Regular domestic bedbugs are bad enough– the pesky, persistent pests have exploded across the country in the past 15 years. And now the Tropical Bedbugs are back.
A researcher at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences announced the discovery of a Tropical Bedbug– the first in 60 years. The single bug was found in Brevard County. Experts say it’s probably just a matter of time before Tropical Bedbugs start showing up elsewhere.
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Tropical bed bug reappears after 60-year absence
“GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the first time in 60 years, a tropical bed bug has been confirmed in Florida, and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers urge the public to send them samples of suspected bed bugs for identification.
For decades, pest control professionals kept common bed bugs mostly at bay with various chemical treatments. Then scientists saw a resurgence of those bugs in the late 1990s and 2000s. The same thing may be happening with the tropical bed bug. It hadn’t been confirmed in Florida since the 1930s and 1940s. In 2015, a family in Brevard County reported tropical bed bugs in their home, said Brittany Campbell, a UF/IFAS doctoral student in entomology.
UF/IFAS scientists confirmed the bug finding, and so far, that’s the only confirmed case in Florida. But researchers think it’s possible they’ll find the bug in other parts of Florida and, in fact, the South because it lives in tropical and sub-tropical climates. Other than its geographic preference, the tropical bed bug is similar to the common bed bug, which is found in all 50 states.”
