Talk:Bed bug

Notes to authors

• The history section needs a lead in and background. Historically where did bedbugs originate? If they were introduced to North America in the last couple of centuries there is a lot more history and this should be the lead in.

• Question - travel tips section is interesting but is it encyclopedic?

• Make your mind up! Bed bug or bedbug? I've standardised it to use bedbug, the article title.--Alex Marshall (talk) 09:18, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

The bed bug is a true bug (a suborder of Hemiptera) and the name is therefore written as two words. And that is the way it is listed in the Entomological Society of America's listing of common names. Thomas R. Fasulo (talk) 02:44, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

• Conflict on the relationship with DDT: In this article, it says that "Bedbugs had nearly been eradicated by the widespread use of potent insecticides such as DDT." In the DDT article, it says "DDT spraying ... does not kill cockroaches or bedbugs" and the claim in this article is described as a DDT myth on its Discussion page. Although I personally find it difficult to believe that this particular insect is not affected by DDT other than it "excites such pests making them more active", the DDT article does cite a number of references to support that statement. Regardless, one of the two articles, either this one or the DDT one, is outright wrong because they (or their cited sources) are in direct conflict. I don't have the knowledge or the references to resolve which is accurate. Xblkx (talk) 02:48, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Recent Developments

A report on National Public Radio in the US today, mentioned the resurgence of bedbugs in some areas of the US, with furniture being left on the curb, outside apartments, marked "bedbugs - do not use" or words to that effect.

My father, who was born in Washington state in 1920, used to tell us kids at bed time, "Nighty-night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!", although that was a empty colloquialism by the 1950's and 1960's. Sad to hear of Bedbugs coming back, although the tenting of homes and heating to high temperature treatments might be useful in warmer climates, killing the termites at the same time. WonderWheeler (talk) 06:22, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

The saying Night night, sleep tight don't let the bedbugs bite actually I understand comes from Elizabethan (I) England. At this time beds did not use wooden slats, instead the matress was held up by a series of ropes. This ropes began to sag down to the floor after use and could be tightened by toggles on the side. The saying was a reminder to tighten the ropes up to prevent the matress touching the floor where more bedbugs lay. --Alex Marshall (talk) 14:52, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I believe it is generally held that the above is an urban legend. As far as I am aware, "tight" here means without interruption. http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/tight —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.67.122.180 (talk) 00:40, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Universities commented out?

I noticed while editing "External links" that a section that links to University materials was commented out. Was this intended? Or did someone goof? I would think that this section should be made available, unlike some of the other links that are displayed. Thomas R. Fasulo (talk) 01:17, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Content all mixed up

I copied this article to Appropedia:Bedbugs, and have done a lot of culling and adding (to reflect that Appropedia's focus is on the practical side, and has different criteria).

I noticed that there is a lot of related content spread between sections. One example is the use of sniffer dogs, mentioned in two places. Another is the global resurgence, talked about in its own section as well as the history section.

If I'd realized this earlier, I would have rearranged first, and copied to Appropedia later. As it is, I've made too many changes at the Appropedia article (to links, and removing references and templates) to copy content back. But still, I have put in some work there in ordering it, and it may be a helpful reference. Just ignore the emphasis on tips and solutions which go beyond what is suitable for Wikipedia. --Chriswaterguy talk 06:39, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Taxonomy

Considering that the article describes the whole Cimicidae family and not just the commonly recognized bedbugs, the taxonomic breakdown to genera and species is probably wrong (besides being unreferenced). According to the book Schuh R.T. & Slater (1995): True bugs of the world. Cornell University Press, the family coprises of 6 subfamilies, with 75 species in total, not just 9. It would be good if the author of the taxobox revealed his source so we could compare. Another thing, Cimicidae were described by Latreille, not Kirkaldy (according to ITIS). --Yerpo (talk) 10:54, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

"How to" Concerns

There are several pieces to this article that have been noted as being "instructional/teaching". I suggest simply removing the offending phrases (e.g., "how to") and leave as is or slightly edit the remaining information to maintain the WP focus on providing information not specifically instruction/advice. Please help to rewrite portions of this article to remove the "How to, "do-it-yourself" aspect of the article while preserving the valuable information regarding eradication of the bedbug. Jemusser (talk) 07:06, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

First paragraph needs to be fixed

No point arguing about scientific content when the first paragraph reads like a third grade book report. I added the word 'insect' to get things started. It needs grammatical correction for the sentence fragment and general disorganization. Anybody been to college? Want to take on the job? Okay, that's all I want to say. You can skip the next paragraph, it's a rant about Wikipedia.

Wikipedia really needs editors. There are already lots of brilliant experts in math and science and every other subject, but the articles are poorly written. Wiki needs people who studied English or Journalism at school to go in and fix the articles just to make them read properly. Check the article on Texas Hold'em for a good example. I'm willing to systematically rant about it all day if anyone would like some more info. Thanks.

204.187.137.2 (talk) 13:57, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm not here that often but would suggest one way of getting the information you would like is to simply ask the question.If questions are listed I could give me my opionion when back on here. Edit this how you like English isn't my strong point but dont amend the pesticide names.

Currently i still work in the entomology/pest control field & have about 25 years of practical experience in identifying & treating bed bugs in the UK

The best insecticide we had was Chlorpyrifos( trade name in the Uk Empire 20) which became unavailable in the U.K about 6 months ago, mainly due to the harmonisation of UK law, European law and subsequent costs to the pesticide manufacturer to re-submit safety data. We were worried that the removal of Chlopyrifos was going to help support bed bug infestations which have already seen quite dramatic increase ref Pest Control New October 2007 ( I was a contributor to the article)

I can tell you from experience that in London about 25 years ago i would be involved in a bed bug job about every six months. Sometimes i am doing a few treatments a week !

Alternative pesticides are not as quick but for a professional the main criteria is complete eradication of the pest from a dwelling , so time is not necessarily an issue. generally you would be looking at 6-12 weeks to an infestation to a "visible eradication" .Some of the new pesticides contain pyriproxyfen which is an insect development blocker, disrupting Chitin production in the insect.

Someone mentioned silica dust -yes suppliers to the trade quote that it has had some success. However it would be very messy to carry out a treatment with that type of material. ref myself : A.R.brookes BSc(Biol), FRES Currently Exor approved & member of NPTA user andybrookestar cheers for now —Preceding unsigned comment added by Andybrookestar (talk • contribs) 16:35, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

"Fixed" first paragraph

Change 'A' to 'The'. Rearranged it for grammar. Added a line explaining why it's called a bedbug. Having a conversation with myself right now.

204.187.137.2 (talk) 18:45, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Bed Bugs, My Infestation.

My name is Peter i am a computer technician, not an antimologist, i am on disability, so my budjet is limited, i have a bed bug infestation, i had my appartment sprayed without much results, i sleep with the lights on so they don't know if i am awake or not or what time of day it is so they canot use the cloak of darkness to hide or an indication of if i am to bed to sleep or to just lay around thinking or reading, also i have noticed that they do kump from higher places onto their intended victime's bed, i use the sound as an indication of their arrival, they hide in the fitted sheet after the have fallen onto my bed, and then i catch and crush them, i do not know where they hide or reproduce beforehand, and i now sleep with tight fitting clothes to minimize the attacks, i kill several every night except when i am realy tired which is rare, but i am still infested even if i keep the population down, i was looking foe more information about my "enemys" so that i may eradicate them, but my best technique yet is to catch them in the act and crushing them while giving them the least amount of chances to feed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.55.152.246 (talk) 18:56, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Leave the US!!! I've lived in France and in Switzerland, and I had never heard there of any bedbugs problems. It seems however very common in the US. Then again, in the US, people spray their fabric with crap like Febreeze instead of actually cleaning the fabric. To an American, what smells good is clean. No wonder you guys get so many such problems... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.178.123 (talk) 05:49, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, and you guys eat snails. And you surrendered to Germany. While eating snails. Go play. --TangoFett (talk) 23:29, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Violations?

The section on New York mentions a number of "violations". This suggests that bed bugs are monitored by the city, and maybe there are laws against living in bedbug-ridden buildings. Is this the case? What laws, if any, relate to bedbugs? --118.90.57.62 (talk) 21:55, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Which insecticides are effective?

This article has everything except the names of effective insecticides. Is this a deliberate omission, or do we simply not know how to kill the little pests? --Uncle Ed (talk) 17:12, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, I've been reading that fresh-water diatomaceous earth (silicate dust from algae fossils), especially if mixed with small percentages of pesticides, show good promise. It works by drying out the insects when the come into contact with it. It may also damage the insects mechanically, by crystals being lodged inside waxy joints of the exo sceleton, thus ripping it up. DE is mostly harmless to humans, but it's adviced to use a face mask as the dust may get into the lungs and cause irritation, and in the long rund, silicosis. The downside is that it's proved excessively hard to find where I live here in Norway, Europe, and I don't know if it's possible to import US products. I do wonder, however, might Fuller's Earth also work? It's also a dessicant, so I see no reason why it shouldn't. --Kebman (talk) 03:23, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Here's a list of active ingredients in bed bug pesticides, Pyrethrin seem to be most common--voodoom (talk) 23:27, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

• deltamethrin
• cyfluthrin
• diatomaceous earth
• pyrethrins
• ground limestone
• permethrin
• chlorfenapyr
• silica + pyrethrum dust
• d-phenothrin

link

For Peter:

Deltamethrin: is the only one that works (JT Eaton)bluelable water based has no smell I used it 2x and were gone. all the others dont work. tips: spray around wall baseboard carpet then ceal up any cracks in walls near the floor;where the wall meets the floor with cauking; get rid of the matres once inside cant get rid of them. caution: use glovs; mask; eye cover.this stuff is very unhealthy. Deltamethrin is illeagal in some states of the U.S. because of enviormental reasons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.77.66 (talk) 08:41, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

thebedbugresource link: malware host.

I just removed a link, added questionably as a reference, to "thebedbugresource.com", which redirects a visitor to another site which, not only has a somewhat suspicious URL but (according to Google) hosts malware. – ClockworkSoul 22:39, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Unwarranted Deletion

I revised and cited a reliable source and it was maliciously deleted by Ohnoitsjamie.