Determining optimal harborage crack size and shape for bed bugs

The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, which feeds on blood and generally irritates its human hosts, has long been a hard-to-control urban pest. According to experts, the recent rise in bed bug infestations is related to an increase in chemical resistance and poor pest management methods. As bed bugs continue to undergo a worldwide resurgence, there is a need to document preferred bed bug habitats. These harborages are crucial to bed bugs as they spend most of their time in them, typically only coming out to feed at night.

Thus, understanding the optimum harborage size for bed bugs is vital for inhibiting reproductive and survival success of bed bugs.

The preferred crevice size and shape that bed bugs are drawn to were based on gender and feeding status. Three questions investigated in this research were:
1. What specific crevice size do bed bugs prefer?
2. What specific crevice shape do bed bugs prefer?
3. Do gender and aggregation influence bed bug preference for crevice size/shape?


Our research shows that adult bed bugs preferred larger crevice sizes with mixed preferences in crevice shapes. Both gender and nutritional status resulted in high levels of preference for crevice 7, which was 4.7625 mm in diameter. In contrast to crevice sizes, aggregation was the significant factor to both simple and complex shape preference. The analysis of bed bugs' preferred crevice size and shape is novel information that will allow a breakthrough in establishing locations likely to harbor bed bugs for trap designs.