Bed bug aggregation on dirty laundry: a mechanism for passive dispersal

Bed bugs have shown a recent and rapid global expansion that has been suggested to be caused by cheap air travel. How a small, flightless and anachoretic insect that hides within its host’s sleeping area manages to travel long distances is not yet clear. Bed bugs are attracted to the odour of sleepi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-09, Vol.7 (1), p.11668-5, Article 11668
Main Authors: Hentley, William T., Webster, Ben, Evison, Sophie E. F., Siva-Jothy, Michael T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/858
631/601/18
Air transportation
Aircraft
Animals
Bedbugs - physiology
Carbon dioxide
Dispersal
Exploratory behavior
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Insect Control
Insects
Laundry
multidisciplinary
Odor
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Travel
Travellers
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Summary:Bed bugs have shown a recent and rapid global expansion that has been suggested to be caused by cheap air travel. How a small, flightless and anachoretic insect that hides within its host’s sleeping area manages to travel long distances is not yet clear. Bed bugs are attracted to the odour of sleeping humans and we suggest that soiled clothing may present a similarly attractive cue, allowing bed bugs to ‘hitch-hike’ around the world after aggregating in the laundry bags of travellers. We show that (1) soiled clothing is significantly more attractive than clean clothing to active bed bugs moving within a bedroom sized arena and (2) elevation of CO 2 to a level that simulates human occupancy in the same arena appears to initiate search behaviour rather than direct it. Our results show, for the first time, how leaving worn clothing exposed in sleeping areas when travelling can be exploited by bed bugs to facilitate passive dispersal.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-11850-5