- February 24, 2015
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Analysis of bed bugs from different parts of Europe has shown that they have got a man from bats. About the study scientists tells BBC Earth.
” small bug, but smelly “- says the well-known saying. Unfortunately, the saying does not account for the fact that bedbugs are also very much: insects the size of an apple seed found almost everywhere.
According to Warren Booth of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, US, literally every week in the press there are articles on next invasion of bugs . However, despite this, they are rather poorly understood.
Booth and his colleagues analyzed the genes of bedbugs to understand where they came from. Scientists have found that in Europe, these insects are divided into two main branches, so different among themselves, that they almost form two different types.
Well, they took from bats.
In a study published in the journal Molecular Ecology, first presented genetic evidence that the bugs in the old days parasitized at-bats, and then moved to the bed with a man.
It happened a long time ago. Bedbugs are mentioned in ancient Egyptian sources, and archaeologists have discovered something similar to Klopova fossils whose age is estimated at 3500 years.
Just one pregnant female bedbug can infect an entire apartment building. These insects can mate with close relatives without negative genetic consequences. All they need – is food. That is the person.
In the 1950s, as a result of the widespread use of insecticides they would have gone out of our homes and hotels. But 15 years ago, they are back to take revenge.
The current bugs are not easy izvedesh: 90% of them as a result of mutations have become resistant to pyrethroid – insecticides with which they were destroyed before.
A team led by Booth studied hundreds of bugs collected from households man and bats in 13 European countries.
An analysis of their DNA showed that the bugs, parasitic on bats did not exchange genes with their counterparts from human bed – even despite the fact that some of these mice lived in attics or in the churches, that is able to come into contact with people.
A branch bugs living on bats, appeared at a time when both mouse and humans lived together in caves, says Booth. And even today, this branch is much more genetically diverse than bugs, parasitic on humans.
The two branches so strongly differ among themselves that when they crossed in the laboratory offspring was less prolific.
As far as we know, to treat the bites do not carry diseases, but the bites itch and unpleasant to look like a rash. Not to mention about how life in klopovnike impact on a person’s reputation.
“You sleep, and they drink your blood, you have to have lunch – says Booth. – This can lead to serious psychological problems. “
The future scientist sees quite pessimistic:” There are two types of people – those who live bugs, and those who they will be. Nowadays, bedbugs are becoming more common. “
Read the original of this article is available in English on the website BBC Earth.
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