- Major Women’s Health Study Supports Hormone Replacement Therapy in Early Menopause
- Organic Walnuts Tied to Serious E. Coli Illnesses
- More Than Half of Cats on Farm Where Bird Flu Infected Cows Died After Drinking Milk
- Biden Administration Could Reclassify Marijuana as Less Risky Drug
- Americans of Pacific Island Ethnicity Have Up to Triple the Rate of Cancer Deaths
- How Anger Could Raise Your Heart Risks
- EPA Clamps Down on Deadly Toxin Found in Paint Strippers
- Popular Teens (Especially Girls) May Get Less Sleep
- Years Prior to Menopause Are Danger Zone for Depression
- School Entry Rules Boost Kids’ HPV Vaccination Rates
Bedbugs Love a Crowd, Study Finds
Something to think about when you have trouble sleeping: Bedbugs grow faster when they live in groups, a new study finds.
It was known that this occurred among other insects, such as crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers, but no such research is believed to have been done on bedbugs.
The North Carolina State University researchers found that bedbug nymphs (baby bedbugs) in groups developed more than two days (7.3 percent) faster than solitary nymphs. The study was published in the January issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.
The researchers also discovered that the growth-related effects of living in a group are the same regardless of the age of individual bedbugs in the group. This means newly hatched bedbugs don’t require the company of older bedbugs to have higher growth rates.
“The observations that adults do not appear to contribute to nymph development suggests that eggs can survive and start new infestations without any adults,” study corresponding author Coby Schal said in a journal news release.
The researchers said the next step is to determine what sensory cues bedbugs use to grow faster in groups.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about bedbugs.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.