WEBVTT - Ep 117 Bedbugs: Bug-bitten and bedeviled 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.520 What a night have I passed, not being able to 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:07.240 get to sleep from animals crawling continually all over my 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:10.799 poor dear person. If once I had got to sleep, 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:14.000 I would then have defied them, but it was not practicable. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.159 But what were these animals? Why to know that? I 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.200 looked this morning at the bed's head, and behold I 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:25.279 saw some hundreds of bugs on their march home, full 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.240 of prey. I dare say, though bugs do not like 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.760 me in general, I suppose an overabundance of population had 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.600 created a famine. For I was bit in three different places, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.760 all three on a very tender part, which I shall 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.840 forbear mentioning, in which we Britons think is the best 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:44.520 part of a bullock to make a steak of. At 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:48.080 five this morning I left Capua, glad to get out 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.080 of such a dirty hole. However, I deserved it for 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.120 going to bed last night without looking, Whereas had I 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:57.480 proceeded in my customary manner, laying myself down on a 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.560 board bench or table, I should have slept like a hero. 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.360 But Naples had made me luxurious, and this night was 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:05.399 I repaid for it. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.240 I slept mercifully, not well, but some on looking, however, 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.720 at my fair hand in the morning as it lay 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:18.000 outside the bedclothes, I perceived it to be all what 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:23.680 shall I say, elevated into inequalities significant of much. My 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.679 pretty neck, too, especially the part of it Babby used 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:30.360 to like to kiss, was all bitten. Infamously, I went 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.119 this morning while a man was taking down my bedstead 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.560 to look for the bugs, which were worse last night. 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.720 Of course, having found what a rare creature they had, 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:43.040 got to eat and investigated another lodging in a beautiful 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.840 little garden villa, wise rejoicing in the characteristic name of 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.360 Flora Cottage. God knows whether there be bugs in it. 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.080 And now, dear, if you think my letter hardly worth 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.320 the reading, remember that I am all bug bitten and bedeviled. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:00.280 Yeah. 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:53.799 I love these old timy like letters about their woes, 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:54.360 you know. 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.360 I mean it's it's funny because I think the language 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.040 style that it's written in a so like it seems 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.880 so quaint from now that it kind of glosses over 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.760 the horrors that they're experiencing. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.239 Yeah, makes it sound like what And you're like, oh, 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.079 you're being destroyed by bugs? Great? Will you sleep well? 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:15.760 You sleep? 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:16.440 Yeah? 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:20.360 But bug bitten and bedeviled is genuinely, I think my 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.400 favorite phrase that I came across, and there are so 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.840 many contenders, but it's just so good. It's just so good. 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:29.679 Well. 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:33.160 I found both of those quotes from a paper that 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:38.440 is just chock full of old quotes about bedbugs, called 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.160 the Bedbug and the Age of Elegance. 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:42.600 Ooh. 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.200 The first one was by Lord Herbert from September seventeen 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.160 seventy nine, and the second was by Jane Welsh Carlisle 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:54.280 no relation as far as I'm aware, from eighteen forty three, 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:59.240 and she had so many letters about bedbugs, an incredible number. 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:07.800 Wow. Oh, poor lady. I'm hi. I'm Aaron Welsh, and 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:09.760 I'm Erin Almond Updike And. 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.520 This is this podcast will kill. 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.480 You today we're talking about bedbugs. We are. 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:16.480 I'm so excited. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:18.920 It's gonna be fun. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.880 They're horrible little creatures to in the way that they 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.960 invade your life and make you miserable and make you 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.599 have to throw out things and whatever. But also they're 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.480 so fascinating, like they're really cool. 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.279 They're cool little. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.760 Bugs, and I can't wait to talk about them more 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.960 and learn about them more. But first it's quarantine any time. 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:51.200 It. What are we drinking this week? We're drinking sleep tight. Yeah. 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.480 I mean, for those of you that may not know 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.440 that that's a phrase, I feel like it's a pretty 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.240 common saying, yeah, don't let the bedbugs bite. What is 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:00.360 in sleep tight? 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:05.159 Erin, It's a delicious little concoction with gin and blackberries, 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:09.240 lime juice, pomegranate juice. Top it with a little tonic water. 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:14.719 M fantastic, it really is. We'll post the full recipe 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.920 for the quarantini as well as the non alcoholic plusy 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.640 verita on our website. This podcast will fill you dot 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:24.359 com and our social media channels. We certainly will. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.680 On our website, you can find the usual things that 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.640 you can find on our website, transcripts, links to Goodreads 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.040 list and our bookshop, dot Org, affiliate account, links to 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:39.000 music by Bloodmobile, links to the sources for all of 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:44.479 our episodes. You know there's more there, merch Patreon transcripts. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:45.680 Did I already say transcripts? 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.080 I think I did. I think that means it's time. 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.839 For us to move on to the content now unless 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:51.960 we have any other business. 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.520 No other business. Erin, let's get into it, shall we. 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.960 Let's do it right after this break. 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.600 So this is technically like jumping ahead all the way 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.719 to the current status just a little bit. But I 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:37.159 really liked this quote and I just feel like it 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:41.160 gives so much context for like why this bedbug story 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.880 is just so good. So I'm going to start with it. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:46.360 Okay, ready, Okay. 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.800 So this is from a twenty twelve paper titled Bedbugs 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:54.400 Clinical Relevance and Control Options. Not only was the reappearance 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.480 of this pest unexpected, but the degree of the resurgence 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.839 has almost been met with awe by many in the 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.320 pest management industry. Awe. 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:10.160 Aw But it's the unexpected part that gets me because 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.680 I know, was it really unexpected? 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.920 Was it? We'll get there eventually, Okay, okay, but first 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.080 let's talk about bedbugs, shall we. 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.080 Yeah. I think that's why we're here. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.320 That's why we're here. We're going to talk about what 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.440 these bugs even are, what they do to us, and 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:29.920 that's it. That's all I'm going to talk about, and 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:34.119 then we'll hear from you. Okay, it's a good start. Thanks. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:39.960 So bed bugs are obviously bugs, they're insects. They're in 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:44.400 the family Submissidae, in the order Hemiptera, which are in 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.679 fact true bugs, so you're allowed to call them bugs 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:51.040 true bugs. We have talked about true bugs on this 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:56.600 podcast before in our shagust disease episode. So bedbugs are 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.520 in the same order, but are very different bugs than 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:05.840 kissing bugs, which are what's spread shagus disease. However, like 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:11.880 kissing bugs, sumisids or bed bugs are also hematophagous or 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:19.000 blood feeding insects. Bedbugs are flightless, They're kind of little 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.920 like oval shaped, very small, like one to three millimeters, 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:32.160 and they are incredibly flat, like amazingly flat bodied. Both 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.640 the males and the females have to blood feed on 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:40.240 vertebrates in order to survive, and there are at least 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.640 ninety ish maybe more species of sumisids, but only a 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.600 handful tend to feed on humans. And the two that 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.800 most commonly and most preferentially feed on humans and therefore 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.960 are the most important for us as humans, are the 0:08:56.040 --> 0:09:02.160 common bedbug cimex like gularius and the topical bedbug Cimex hymipteris. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:04.760 So those are the two that I'm going to focus 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.200 on entirely. So whenever I talk about bedbugs, I'm talking 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.240 about those two species, the common and the tropical bedbug, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:14.280 but there are so many more, so many, and like 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.640 our friends the kissing bugs that we talked about in 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:21.720 Shawgus Disease episode, these insects feed on blood throughout all 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.880 of their life stages. They don't metamorphosize like a lot 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.080 of insects we know and love and talk about on 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.560 this podcast more often, like flies or mosquitoes, or even 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.280 ants and beetles and things. But instead, what bedbugs and 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.920 all true bugs do is they go through nymphle in stars, 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:43.280 and bedbugs have to blood feed at each one of 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.040 these stages in order to grow into the next instar. 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:52.840 How many stages are there in general five nymphal instars, 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.400 and then so they have to feed at each one 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.360 of those, and then the females have to feed every 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.440 time in a order to make eggs as well, So 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.440 they have to continually feed to be able to continue 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:08.280 making eggs. And how often do they need to feed? 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.840 Great question? In general they feed every few days or so, 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:17.840 maybe every three to seven days. However, they can survive 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.920 for very long periods of time, and exactly how long 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:22.920 depends on what paper you read. And of course the 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:28.440 environmental conditions and everything, but we're talking potentially months without 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.760 blood feeding and they can just hang out and survive. Yep, 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:40.360 you have that right. So those two species, Cimex lectularius 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:44.760 and Cimex hymipdris, the common and the tropical bedbug, prefer 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:49.240 human hosts, but they're not terribly picky, so they'll also 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.800 feed on our pets and other domestic animals, even birds. 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.200 They can cause a lot of damage to poultry flocks, 0:10:56.320 --> 0:11:01.520 et cetera. But in general, bed bugs tend to be 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.360 attracted to their hosts both by the carbon dioxide that 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:09.720 we breathe out as well as our body heat, and 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.239 then a whole bunch of other potential chemicals and caramones 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.320 that we give off that they can detect. And I 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.319 don't know what these are, and I knew you might 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:23.120 want to ask, but they can detect like a really 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.560 wide variety of chemicals. So we're potentially emitting a bunch 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.080 of different little things while we sleep that they're attracted to. 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:35.760 A bed bugs are you would think, like the least 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.520 impressive movement wise, Like they can't fly, they can't jump, 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:42.079 they just walk. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.840 They can scuttle. They can scuttle very fast. 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.840 They are very fast, and they can walk a surprisingly 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:56.520 long distance for how incredibly tiny they are. And so 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.839 the way that they generally live their life is that, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.920 like I mentioned, they feed just every few days, and 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.680 then once they have a nice big blood meal, they 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.640 scuttle off and they go and rest, and they lie 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.360 dormant while they digest that blood meal. And because they 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:19.880 do not live on us like fleas or lice, they 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:25.160 generally are found on our bedding or chairs or upholstery, 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.600 where they can hide during the day and come out 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:35.080 only at night to feed. These bugs are photophobic, which 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:39.080 is part of why they like a nighttime snack, and 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.520 their peak feeding tends to be between one am and 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.480 five am, which also happens to be when we tend 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:46.760 to sleep the most deeply. 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.280 I just love it, I know, I mean, you have 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:51.080 to admire it. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:57.080 You have to. How can you not. Oh, Then, once 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.560 they've had their fill, they crawl or scuttle on back 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.880 to their nests, which are called refugia. 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:05.679 I mean, that's kind of cute, isn't it. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.360 I love it. And they do aggregate there because they 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.880 release a whole bunch of pheromones for each other to 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.079 help them find these little nests, these little refugia, which 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.680 also I read helps them with like water conservation. Love that. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.120 Oh, that is amazing. 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.200 Having a whole bunch of them altogether, you know, rather 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.640 than like living all alone. Yeah. And in addition to 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:33.400 having these aggregation pheromones, bedbugs also have alarm pheromones. So 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.240 if you find their little abodes and then you start 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.120 killing them and it smells really bad or weird, or 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:46.880 some descriptions say sickly sweet, that is the alarm pheromones 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.680 that these bedbugs are releasing to warn any other little 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.320 nests or refugias guttle away, scuttle away they found us. 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.480 That is so interesting because I came across several quotes 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.560 describing how horrible they smelled or how distinctive they smelled, 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.440 and it never occurred to me to wonder why they smelled. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.280 Yeah, and in general, at least from what it seems 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.800 is a lot of that smell, It's possible that maybe 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.600 some of it is those aggregation pheromones that were smelling, 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.920 you know, if it's just like they're all the time. 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:22.560 But I think a lot of it most of the 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.920 time is in the context of them releasing alarm pheromones. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.800 So we found their nest, and now they're releasing all 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.040 these pheromones, and now you smell it for the first time. 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:33.120 That is incredible. I know. 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.280 The other way that you can find their little nests 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:43.000 is poop. They're poop fecal spotting, so little black, little 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.440 dots in the corners and crevices of mattresses or bed 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.880 frames or walls. Those are usually one of the first 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:54.720 signs or indications of a bed bug infestation. Rather than 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:59.000 finding the bugs themselves, it's usually fecal spotting first, and 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.080 then you have to look really hard to find the bugs. 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.800 Female bedbugs. I tried to get a handle on just 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:15.720 how many eggs they lay, because it seems very important 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:21.120 when we're looking at bedbug infestations, because they are impressively 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:26.760 good at spreading. And yet I was not all that 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.520 impressed with how many eggs an individual female can lay. 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.040 One of the papers that I read said that they 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.680 lay five to eight eggs a week adult females for 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:42.560 eighteen weeks. That's like surprisingly low, right and per air 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.400 and math, that's only like ninety to one hundred and 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.520 forty four eggs, which is not that much. But then 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:52.240 other papers suggested it's more like two hundred to five 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.360 hundred eggs in a lifetime, which is more okay, but 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:59.560 still not as much as I expect for an insect 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.400 that can spread as rapidly as we know that it can. 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:07.440 I wonder because when we think of insects, we think 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:11.680 of them laying or arthropods laying tons and tons of eggs, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:16.440 sort of like in a bet hedging strategy. Right, ten 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.160 percent of them survived to be larva, ten percent of 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.840 them survived to be nymphs, et cetera. Right, So what 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:28.040 is the in star survival rate or mortality rate for 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:30.880 bed bugs? Do they survive better because there are fewer? 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.680 What is maternal care? Like? I have so many questions 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.320 now I have I have. 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.920 Those same questions. I don't have answers for them. But yeah, 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.400 it's a really good question. You would think maybe maybe 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.320 it is quite a lot higher because they live in 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.880 these little refugeia. Right, So maybe because they're living in 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.640 such close association with hosts, maybe they have a better 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:54.600 chance at survival maybe, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, Yeah, 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.400 it's it was an It was an interesting number. So 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.920 a few hundred eggs yea, and yet and just wait. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.080 And for those of you who wonder how long are 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:13.119 they biting me? For an adult tends to take about 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:17.840 ten to twenty minutes to become fully engorged. So they're 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.520 biting you every couple of days, ten to twenty minutes 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.240 at a time, et cetera. Hundreds of bugs laying hundreds 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:29.879 of eggs. Goldkah, yeah, love that. There was also, I 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.600 will say, in the bed bug literature, aside from the 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.920 human clinical side of things, which is what I'm about 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.280 to get into a little bit more, there is a 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.679 lot of very interesting stuff in the literature about what 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.040 I guess is one of the other very interesting parts 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.399 of bedbug biology, and that is that the way that 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:56.199 they mate, which is very different than most bugs, and 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:01.479 this is that the males pierce the females abdominal wall 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:06.680 in order to inseminate them, not the genital tract directly. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:12.679 This process is called traumatic insemination because it's literally causing 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.040 direct trauma to the abdominal wall of the female. 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:22.399 Two questions, Okay, is traumatic insemination common across all bedbug species? 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:27.399 And the second question is what consequences does this have 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:28.880 besides insemination? 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.720 Great questions. So whether all species of bed bugs do this, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.200 I don't actually know because I really only read about 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.280 these two species, but I'm pretty sure that this is 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:45.360 common across semisids in general. Yeah, Now, what consequences does 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.600 this have? Kind of a lot, And in fact, it 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:52.520 has been shown that this process can actually reduce survival 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.359 in the females, which is fascinating. It has also led 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:03.320 to the evolution of an entirely new you like, paragenital tract, 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.840 which is still though not actually used for insemination. It's 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.040 generally still the abdominal wall, but it has led to 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:16.000 really strong sexual selection in various ways. Like what, I 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.119 didn't dive deep into anything beyond that because there's simply 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:21.639 too much other ground to cover. 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:26.280 How on Earth did this evolve? Oh, Aaron, I don't 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.840 know how the answer to that well. And also, so 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:33.160 the genital tract is used for depositing eggs, right. 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:36.040 Yeah, so that's still how eggs are going to be 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.160 laid is through the genital tract, but it's not how 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:40.360 insemination occurs. 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.320 Wow, Okay, yeah, I mean I knew that, but it's 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:45.680 just still it's mind blowing. 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:50.040 I know, And it's really it's really weird. Yeah, especially 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:55.200 that it can reduce survival. Anyways, that's all I've got. 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:57.440 I got papers you can read more. People can get 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.440 really into this and maybe we'll get some cool fun 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.080 answers out it. Let's move on to what we tend 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:03.960 to focus on on this podcast, which is like what 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.520 happens to us humans? Yeah? But what about humans? What 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:13.119 about us when we get bitten by these bugs? No doubt, 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.520 the most common thing that anyone is going to get 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:23.359 from a bedbug bite is localized skin reactions, meaning we're itchy. 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.359 So sorry in advance, everyone's going to be itching for 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.080 the rest of the time that I'm talking if you're 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:32.800 not already. So, how does this process of feeding actually work? 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.399 And why do we get so itchy from it? Like 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:41.640 pretty much all Hemiptera bedbugs have these mouthparts that are 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:47.679 made specifically for piercing and sucking. Other Hymiptera use this 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.479 type of mouthpart for piercing plants and sucking out their sap, 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.879 or for piercing the exoskeleton of other bugs and sucking 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.760 out their guts. Bedbugs use them for piercing our skin 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.280 and sucking out our blood. So they have these very 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:06.920 fine little needle mouths. They stick them into us. They 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:11.200 inject into us their own saliva, which contains a whole 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:16.960 bunch of proteins, many of which contain anticoagulant properties, which 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:22.040 makes sense. Some of these proteins help with vasodilation so 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.639 that they get more localized blood flow to the area. 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:29.919 Some of them inhibit platelet aggregation and activation, which is 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:33.640 the first step of our clotting cascade. See our hemophilia 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:38.720 episode pre details. Some of them actually inhibit factor ten, 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.600 which is fascinating, which is another part of our clotting cascade, 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:46.320 in order to just further delay blood clot formation. I 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:51.679 just it's really impressive stuff. It's unclear if anything that 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:57.919 they inject serves to unesthetize our skin, but these are 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:03.480 teeny tiny little needle mouths, so even if it doesn't, 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.320 it's unlikely in general that we probably feel this because 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:10.800 of just how small those needles are. Then they suck 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.000 up blood, withdraw their little needle, and crawl back to 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:18.520 their refuge. What you may see after the fact right 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:24.840 away are maybe little pinpoint flex of blood on our sheets, 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:29.199 but very often you won't see any evidence that you 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:34.239 got bitten by bedbugs. Overnight until your skin reacts to 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:38.600 it at a future point. Now, one big question is 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.000 how long does it take to have a reaction to 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:46.320 bedbug bites? And that is not as easy of a 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:48.800 question to answer as you might think. A lot of 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:52.760 the literature says that it might take many days, like 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:57.719 several days, But it really depends person to person, as 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:01.040 I'll get into like what each person since specific reaction 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:04.639 might be. And in some people it's very possible to 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:07.880 have a reaction within twenty four to forty eight hours. Okay, 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:11.800 so it's not very clear cut if bites, for example, 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:16.159 appear on your body when exactly the bites actually occurred. 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:17.560 Does that make sense? Yeah? 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:19.960 So, like if you just came back from a trip 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:22.800 and a week later, you're like, I have bites? Are 0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:25.560 they from the last hotel I stayed in? Right? 0:23:25.800 --> 0:23:28.080 Or are they yeah last night? 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:30.199 Or did I bring them back from the hotel that 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:31.439 I stayed in another with me? 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:32.320 Exactly? 0:23:33.280 --> 0:23:37.840 Are there certain parts of you that bed bugs like 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:38.439 to bite? 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:43.080 Let's get into it, shall we. Yeah, yes, so let's 0:23:43.119 --> 0:23:45.760 talk about what it looks like where you find them, 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:50.280 et cetera. If someone is going to have a reaction 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:56.520 to these bedbug bites, which not everyone does what you 0:23:56.680 --> 0:24:01.879 usually see initially are and by little, I mean like 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:06.920 two to five millimeter so pretty small flat red spots. 0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:10.840 And yes, it is slightly more common erin that you 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:14.520 might see these spots on your arms, or your legs, 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.880 or your neck or your face. This is not for 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:21.600 any other real reason other than clothing can really help 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:25.639 protect against bites. So arms, legs, neck, face, these are 0:24:25.640 --> 0:24:28.680 the places that are most likely uncovered in bed. Anywhere 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:33.960 that's uncovered can potentially get bitten. These little flat red 0:24:33.960 --> 0:24:40.520 spots can then progress over time to these round or kind. 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.560 Of oval shaped wheels. 0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:49.280 Kind of like hivy, looking like slightly raised bumps, though 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:51.520 they're not true hives, but they kind of can look 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:55.800 a lot like hives. They can actually enlarge quite a bit, 0:24:55.880 --> 0:24:58.240 so now instead of looking at little two to five 0:24:58.359 --> 0:25:04.000 millimeter dots, might have two to six centimeter wheels, and 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:08.840 they can be really really itchy. And if you have 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:11.960 a whole bunch of these bites, then these individual wheels 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:14.359 can kind of coalesce into what looks like a more 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:18.439 widespread rash. And the more that you scratch at it, 0:25:18.480 --> 0:25:21.399 the more that it can exacerbate this trauma and not 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:24.959 only spread the what looks like the rash and the itching, 0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:27.480 but also can make it harder to see what's really 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:30.560 like going on underneath on the skin itself because of 0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:32.000 all this scratching. 0:25:32.080 --> 0:25:35.560 And with repeated exposures. Do you get more sensitive to 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:36.760 bedbug bites? 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:40.080 Yeah? Yeah, exactly so I'll get into it a little 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:42.760 bit more later. But the truth is that we don't 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:47.359 understand the pathophysiology of this response, like why do some 0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:51.920 people have really severe reactions to bedbug bites and other 0:25:51.960 --> 0:25:55.080 people might be living with bed bugs for months and 0:25:55.160 --> 0:26:00.760 never even really know, right, it's very very rare, but 0:26:01.119 --> 0:26:04.159 sometimes people can have even more severe reactions where they 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:07.800 end up with systemic symptoms like fevers and feeling really 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:12.720 cruddy from how many bug bites they've gotten. And we 0:26:12.800 --> 0:26:18.679 don't really understand this reaction itself. But there is some 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:22.040