Ever Traveled with Dirty Laundry? You will Never Do This Again!

Have you ever wondered why some people are forced to relocate?  Well, don’t be a victim- rumor has it that it might be due to a tiny flightless insect commonly known as a bed bug, (Cimex lectularius L.)! Certainly, it is disturbing and it hurts to have a small parasitic insect sucking your blood whiles trying to sleep or rest on your bed. But, what are you doing wrong to attract bed bugs? A recent scientific report examined the behavior of the common bed bug and reported that, not only does dirty clothes attracts bed bugs but, it also it also makes it easier for these tiny flightless insects to travel and disperse over long distances.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield, Hentley and colleagues, conducted a research examining how dirty clothes and the odor that humans breath out (Carbon dioxide, CO₂) play an active role in attracting bed bugs, as well as initiating their host searching behavior. Hentley and his colleagues conducted the experiment in two identical, temperature-controlled rooms in which four tote bags of clothes were placed — two containing dirty clothes, two with clean clothes — in the presence of bed bugs. In each run of the experiment, one room received an increase in concentration of CO₂ to stimulate human breathing. As expected, bed bugs were more likely to be around bags containing dirty clothes than around bags containing clean clothes. Surprisingly, high levels of carbon dioxide did not affect the behavior of bed bugs; however, it made the bed bugs initiate their host seeking behavior.

What the results suggest is that, dirty clothes certainly attract bed bugs. Hentley and his colleagues see this as a problem because “Bed bugs are a huge problem for hotel and homeowners, particularly in some of the world’s biggest and busiest cities. Once a room is infested with bed bugs, they can be very difficult to get rid of, which can result in people having to dispose of clothes and furniture that can be really costly”. After reading this, you probably shouldn’t travel with dirty clothes because not only will you go home with the worse souvenir but, it might take you a lifetime to completely get rid of these little creatures known as bed bugs!

References

Hentley, T. W., Webster, B., Evison, E. F. S., & Siva-Jothy, T. M. (2017). Bed bug aggregation on dirty laundry. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 11668. http://dx. 10.1038/s41598-017-11850-5.