Since bed bug issues within the United States are currently out of control and will only continue to worsen by the day, it is of the utmost importance that America’s best and brightest minds apply their talents to developing new and improved bed bug control methods. Without entomologists that specialize in bed bug research, the bloodsucking insects may come to rule the world at some point. Luckily, numerous bed bug experts are currently working tirelessly to provide more effective methods of bed bug control. These experts sacrifice a lot in order to dedicate themselves to finding a solution to the current bed bug infestation issue affecting the world. For example, two prominent bed bug researchers literally sacrifice their own blood for bed bug control research. These two researchers keep their laboratory bed bug specimens alive by allowing the insects to feed on their own blood. However, most people will be pleased to know that this behavior is not typical for bed bug researchers and their exists many alternative blood sources that can be used to attain blood for scientific research. So how do bed bug researchers attain the gallons of blood they need for research?
Most labs where bed bugs are researched have blood on stock most of the time, and when more is needed, the researchers simply purchase blood from private businesses. The blood used for bed bug research is often dog, chicken or rabbit blood. While bed bugs are willing to consume animal blood, they prefer to feed on the blood of humans and a select group of animals, like deer and moose. This is because human blood simply tastes better to bed bugs than most other types of animal blood. In order to make animal blood tastier for laboratory bed bugs, researchers remove clotting proteins from the blood in a process called defibrination. The very few researchers that use their own blood to feed bed bugs may do so because bed bugs only feed when they use their sucking mouthparts and when they can sense the heat that emanates from human and animal bodies. Considering these requirements, it can be easier for researchers to simply allow bed bugs to embed themselves within their skin for feeding as opposed to using specially built feeders that mimic skin.
Have you ever found a bed bug on your skin?