2018
Doggett, S.L., D.M. Miller and C.-Y. Lee (eds.). 2018. Advances in the Biology and Management of Modern Bed Bugs. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley Blackwell, 472 pp.
Advances in the Biology and Management of Modern Bed Bugs (ABMMBB) updates and expands much of Usinger’s (The Monograph of Cimicidae, 1966) information, with emphasis on the worldwide resurgence of both the Common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., and the Tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus. ABMMBB incorporates extensive new information from a wide range of basic and applied research, as well as the recently observed medical, legal and regulatory impacts of bed bugs. ABMMBB is the most comprehensive compilation yet produced about these bugs that includes historic, technical, and practical information. ABMMBB is be an essential reference for anyone who is engaged in managing bed bugs, be it in an academic, basic or applied scientific setting, or in a public outreach or pest management role. It is a valuable text for those in the hospitality sector and accommodation managers, who are tasked with the job of minimizing the risk of bed bugs in their facility, or who organize the eradication of active infestations. ABMMBB provides up‐to‐date information for the pest management professional on bed bug biology and management; ABMMBB has over 60 contributing authors, spanning some 14 nations. There are seven main parts within ABMMBB. These cover Bed Bugs in Society, the Global Resurgence, Bed Bug Impacts, Biology, Management, Control in Specific Situations, and Legal Issues. Finally, ABMMBB ends with a discussion on the future of bed bugs in society and research needs.
2015
Borel, B. 2015. Infested: How the Bed Bug Infiltrated Our Bedroom and Took Over the World. Chicago, IL, The University of Chicago Press, 224 pp.
Bed bugs. Few words strike such fear in the minds of travelers. In cities around the world, lurking beneath the plush blankets of otherwise pristine-looking hotel beds are tiny bloodthirsty beasts just waiting for weary wanderers to surrender to a vulnerable slumber. Though bed bugs today have infested the globe, the common bed bug is not a new pest at all. Indeed, as Brooke Borel reveals in this unusual history, this most-reviled species may date back over 250,000 years, wreaking havoc on our collective psyche while even inspiring art, literature, and music—in addition to vexatious red welts.
In Infested, Borel introduces readers to the biological and cultural histories of these amazingly adaptive insects, and the myriad ways in which humans have responded to them. She travels to meet with scientists who are rearing bed bug colonies—even by feeding them with their own blood (ouch!)—and to the stages of musicals performed in honor of the pests. She explores the history of bed bugs and their apparent disappearance in the 1950s after the introduction of DDT, charting how current infestations have flourished in direct response to human chemical use as well as the ease of global travel. She also introduces us to the economics of bed bug infestations, from hotels to homes to office buildings, and the expansive industry that has arisen to combat them.
1966
Usinger RL. 1966. Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera–Heteroptera). College Park, MD, Entomological Society of America, 585 pp.
The Monograph of Cimicidae, is a thorough review of the Cimicidae family. This was the first comprehensive publication on bed bugs that combined extensive information from historic, cultural, scientific, pest management, and general public resources. Although there have been advances in the study of bed bugs, The Monograph of Cimicidae continues to be the key reference for the Cimicidae.