Bedbugs are Biting Again

BlogHer finally pointed me to some links of interest--Bedbugger Blog and "The Bedbug Blog: I had bedbugs. I needed emotional support. I created this website." People are aware of bedbugs again. For some reason they are inspiring support groups, in contrast to more familiar vermin. (I don't see any support blogs for roach sufferers--yet.)

As an entomologist, the Heteroptera were my particular interest, and people used to tell me their ectoparasite troubles. (I was a professional, after all.) Most of the bedbug infestations I heard about were in old houses with bats in the attic or basement. Bats and birds have their own bedbug species, which they are happy to share with us when circumstances permit. The recent urban infestations which leave people in need of peer support are of Cimex lectularius, Linnaeus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae). This is the common bedbug, Wanz, cimex, which has infested humans and domestic animals for thousands of years. Like untreatable bacterial infections, bedbugs are making a comeback.

The strangest thing about these odd bugs is their mating system--"haemocelic insemination." The male bedbug's intromitent organ is contained inside one of the genital claspers, which is used to puncture the female bedbug's body wall. Spermatozoa are injected directly into the female's body cavity, where they migrate to the ovaries. Other heteropteran families, including Nabidae and Anthocoridae, have similar morphological and behavioral adaptations. Bill Eberhardt, in Sexual Selection and Animal Genitalia, mentions several other animal groups with analogous mating systems. He classifies it as "male-male genitalic competition."

Here's something I really don't understand. A Google search of "Cimex" produced dozens of different corporate names. Cimex is the genus name of the bedbug, identical to the Latin word for that unpopular insect. Why would you select it to advertise the product you hope will make your fortune? You might expect that biotech and pharmaceutical companies would be sensitive to distasteful scientific names, but no. Here are several Cimex companies.

• Cimex Learning Homepage. Cimex is a privately owned company with a proven 10 year track record of developing successful interactive learning solutions across a wide range of digital platforms.
• Cimex-USA, a carpet cleaner company.
• About Cimex-Corp" Cimex is a full service computer integration company, fulfilling manufacturing needs in various fields such as, Printing/Packaging, Die making, Automation, and Quality control.
• CIMEX BioTech, L.C.® was created because of our belief in the importance of connecting the needs of the medical world with the expanse of engineering knowledge.
• Welcome to Cimex. We are proud to introduce Cimex, a defining force in the world of generic drugs, offering the leading European generics players the products and services needed to facilitate access to quality medicine at fair prices.