Latest Resistance management for sustainable agriculture and improved public health

Cimex lectularius

Cimex lectularius

Body shape: Oval, extremely flattened (dorso-ventral)
Length: Unfed up to 6 mm, up to 9 mm after engorgement
Color: Unfed red-brown, dark brown after blood meal
Mouth parts: Biting apparatus (proboscis) with 2 bristles which form a pipe-in-pipe system and is folded under the head and frontal thorax in resting position

Signs of Infestation: During the day the bedbugs rest in very narrow crevices (behind skirting boards, pictures and casings, in light switches, in apertures for cables or pipes, cardboard boxes, in bed frames and mattresses, in chinks of furniture and under detached wallpaper). In the case of heavy infestations an unpleasant  sweetish odour occurs, produced by special glands in the bugs,. The adult insects are able to survive without a blood-meal for up to one year.

Bed Bugs resistance profile

Multiple resistance mechanisms, including penetration resistance through thickening or remodelling of the cuticle, metabolic resistance by increased activities of detoxification enzymes (e.g. cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and esterases), and knockdown resistance by kdr mutations, have been experimentally identified as conferring insecticide resistance in bed bugs. Other candidate resistance mechanisms, including behavioral resistance, some types of physiological resistance (e.g. increasing activities of esterases by point mutations, glutathione S-transferase, target site insensitivity including altered AChEs, GABA receptor insensitivity and altered nAChRs), symbiont-mediated resistance and other potential, yet undiscovered mechanisms may exist. (Dang K, et al. 2017)

Species Distribution Chemical class Mechanisms
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Key bed bugs resources

References

Title Year Author(s) Publisher
Insecticide resistance and resistance mechanisms in bed bugs, Cimex spp. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Vol. 10 (1): 318, DOI: 10.1186/s13071-017-2232-3. 2017 Dang K, Doggett SL, Veera Singham G, Lee CY Parasit Vectors
Insecticide Resistance and Management Strategies in Urban Ecosystems Vol. 7(1):2. DOI:10.3390/insects7010002. 2016 Zhu F, Lavine L, O’Neal S, Lavine M, Foss C, Walsh D Insects
High Levels of Resistance in the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), to Neonicotinoid Insecticides. Vol. 53 (3), pp. 727-731. DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjv253 2016 Romero A, Anderson TD Journal of Medical Entomology
Widespread distribution of knockdown resistance mutations in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), populations in the United States Vol. 73 (4), pp. 245-57, DOI: 10.1002/arch.20355 2010 Zhu F, Romero A, Moore A, Feguson K, Palli R, Potter MF, Haynes KF, Palli SR Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology
Biochemical and Molecular Analysis of Deltamethrin Resistance in the Common Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Vol. 45 (6), pp. 1092-1101. DOI: 10.1603/0022-2585(2008)45[1092:BAMAOD]2.0.CO;2 2008 Yoon KS, Kwon DH, Strycharz JP, Hollingsworth CS, Lee SH, Clark JM Journal of Medical Entomology
Laboratory evaluations of insecticide product efficacy for control of Cimex lectularius Vol. 99 (6), pp 2080-6 2006 Moore DJ, Miller DM Journal of Economic Entomology

The information provided is based on literature reviews and as such IRAC cannot guarantee or be held accountable for the accuracy of the reports.

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