Comments on: Strange bloodsucking bedfellows.

Strange bloodsucking bedfellows.

bigmusic — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:08:40 -0800

Sleep tight, don't [pdf] let the bed bugs bite.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:14:44 -0800

I'll read all those later, after I stop scratching.

By: killdevil

killdevil — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:16:19 -0800

Oh great, thanks for the reminder. I live in a Boston neighborhood in which bedbugs are endemic... one of the only places in the United States so blessed. Not in my building yet, though...

By: hooray

hooray — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:23:16 -0800

The Leonard Lopate show had a segment on this (scroll down, mp3 link and streaming audio inside).

By: LarryC

LarryC — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:25:22 -0800

Two weeks ago, my university department brought in a job candidate and put him up in one of the better hotels in town. He was swarmed with beg bugs during the night--showed up for his day of interviews with welts all the hell over him. This in Joplin, Missouri. Anyone know how to synthesize DDT?

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:29:21 -0800

Anyone know how to synthesize DDT? As (DDT) dries, it leaves a white deposit on the hut walls, and it has been found to make bedbugs more active.

By: evoo

evoo — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:32:28 -0800

From the "bed" link above: Infestations of bed bugs are on the increase... Human bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are found all over the world and are constantly being dispersed via used furniture, luggage and bedding. During the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of bed bug infestations... I wonder if anyone has done any studies to compare the spread of bed bugs in a certain community to the popularity of craigslist in that community. Think of all that used furniture changing hands.

By: lhall

lhall — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:06:51 -0800

Eww...second the craigslist comment. I'm already a little squicked by the thought of using old chairs or couches. Now I get to be paranoid about it, too!

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:56:22 -0800

"Squicked"? Is that a word? I like it! If it's not a "real" word, it should be. This site says: "There is inconclusive evidence this term may have originated among practitioners of sexual bondage or sadomasochism." Anyways, yeah. Bedbugs: Lame.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 06:07:48 -0800

Bedbugs are rampant in Toronto right now. I've managed to avoid them invading my apartment, even though I was spending a lot of time somewhere that was infested. Those are some itchy fucking bites. Worse than mosquitos.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 07:12:19 -0800

ask.mefi: related threads.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 07:22:44 -0800

Bed bugs also have an interesting sex life. The males have large, scimitar-like sex organs with which they pierce the females body wall, not bothering to use her sex organs. They fill the female's body with semen, some it which makes it to her reproductive organs. The rest is absorbed as protein by the female and used as nourishment. Romantic!

By: trishthedish

trishthedish — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 07:45:46 -0800

a year ago i briefly lived with some people in a small apartment in New Jersey that was badly infested.. i had to be the one ot find out. although its been many, many months since that horrible reality i still have nightmares about bugs crawling on me and sucking my blood. i recommend people buy these mattress covers. even if you get an infestation if they arent living in your mattress you are alot less likely to get attacked, unless you spend the night on your infected couch. i am a huge fan of dumpster diving, but i will never again even consider anything upholstered or a mattress.

By: Operation Afterglow

Operation Afterglow — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:38:08 -0800

That's not an impaled woman with spooge running out of her mouth- that's my wife!

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:06:55 -0800

Also, related here.

By: dov3

dov3 — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:57:11 -0800

I saw last night the CBS (or NBC?) show describing the bug infestation in Manhattan. I was so impressed with those critters that I dreamed about them last night. It was really horrible!!

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:21:20 -0800

EWWW! When I was traveling in Nepal, I came across this poor Aussie guy whose sleeping bag got infested at some tea house. Guy was a wreck, but the local "cure" was to put the bag out in the sun - sunlight kills them apparently. I have no empirical proof it worked (I didnt stick around) but I heard the same thing from other folks. Any corroboration?

By: Termite

Termite — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:20:24 -0800

Bed bugs? We're supposed to worry about bleepin' bed bugs now? This 21st century is really falling short of my expectations.

By: Laotic

Laotic — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:16:28 -0800

We don't have a problem with bed bugs, but I seem to have an allergy for house mites or their products, and I am seriously considering to hang one of those UV lamps they have in hospitals in my bedroom. I also heard the beasts suffer under sunlight but I just don't have the sunny yard to hang my linen on.

By: anonymous78

anonymous78 — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:17:39 -0800

Is there any way to identify bites on one's body as bed bug bites? Or is it simply circumstance that determines the diagnosis? As in, I am waking up in the morning with bites, therefore I have bed bugs. Also, can anyone explain why I would be getting bitten, but not my boyfriend?

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:07:53 -0800

Also, can anyone explain why I would be getting bitten, but not my boyfriend? Most bloodsucking insects home in on body temperature. even a small (like .1 degree difference) will draw them in preference. Or so I've been told by entomologists. My body temp is about 98.3 and I'm never bothered by bugs like mosquitos unless I'm the only food out there. Amuses the hell outta me seeing everyone flailing about when I'm just hangin back.

By: annieb

annieb — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 17:45:59 -0800

My body temp is around 96.7 (really!) and I never realized that about mosquitos! No wonder everyone complains about getting bitten but me...hee hee hee. Thanks for the info, elendil71. On another note, my ex is an exterminator in northern New Jersey, and he said he gets bedbug calls several times a week these days, as opposed to a monthly call just a couple of years ago. Lovely thought, that.

By: trishthedish

trishthedish — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 20:15:30 -0800

yeah my roomate never got affected by the bugs so she thought they werent real. my bites looked like a rash and itched alot. i thought i had poison ivy. the best way to know for sure is to take the sheets off of your mattress and inspect it closely... look for blood trails around the seams. paranoia is how i caught them. i thought maybe i had them but couldnt find them.. then i dreamt that i was being bit. because i was.. i woke up, turned on the lights and low and behold there were so many of them everywhere. worst sight EVER.