Bed bugs in the United States have developed a resistance to the world's most common type of insecticide based on the findings of a new study. The blood-sucking insects in the states of Ohio and Michigan had very high levels of immunity to regular amounts of the pesticide chemicals called "neonicotinoids."
Researchers learned that regular doses of the chemicals did not kill the annoying bugs. Concentrations 1,000 times higher than those required to destroy non-resistant insects were needed, according to BBC.
Bed bugs have become a nuisance around the globe. That is due to factors such as the rocketing global human population and increase in international travel.
The tiny insects are usually active at night. They live by eating blood and cause victims to wake up with bite marks over their whole bodies.
Bed Bugs were a big problem in homes and offices during the 1940s and 1950s. However, powerful insecticides including dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) helped to limit the populations.
The flat insects started to develop a resistance during the 1960s. They also became resistant to the group of organic chemicals used for pest control known as pyrethroids.
In the recent study scientists exposed bed bugs collected in 2012 to four types of neonicotinoid insecticides. They compared them to two groups of lab bed bugs. One group had never been exposed to pesticides, and the other was a pyrethroid-resistant group collected in 2008.
Just 0.3 nanograms were required to kill half of the insecticide-free bugs. However, about 10,000 nanograms were needed to kill the same percentage of the neonicotinoid-exposed bugs.
Even the pyrethroid-resistant group had a moderate resistance level to the insecticides. The bugs can probably create big amounts of an enzyme that is used to break down substances.
The researchers noted that the study's findings do not imply that all bed bugs in the world are immune to insecticides. However, they pointed out that the bugs' DNA can evolve to resist poisons. Therefore, more non-chemical tools such as heat and vapor should be used.
An entire Social Services building was recently closed in North Carolina after bed bugs were found, according to ABC 11. However, they were only in small areas.
Here is a natural bed bug spray: