It’s a bedbug’s world now. We’re just sleeping in it.

  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What if bedbugs evolve resistance and take over the world eventually. Bet no one had that on their Great Filter bingo card.

    • holycrapwtfatheism@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know if they can adapt to resist diatomaceous earth in any way? It’s one of the more common treatments and it just slices them up.

      • pitninja@lemmy.pit.ninja
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        1 year ago

        The article actually addressed this and apparently they are even developing some resistance to diatomaceous earth. The only sure fire treatments described are extreme heat or cold. It’s a pretty horrifying situation we’ve made for ourselves.

        • Piecemakers@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Cedar oil. Fry them before your very eyes.

          Also, the fumigation packets for livestock stalls, but you need to duck tape your contractor bags of clothes, etc. closed and leave them outside for 6-10 days.

      • blackbirdbiryani@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I once had a pretty bad bed bug infestation and tested DE by putting a bedbug in a cup of it… It lived for weeks before I killed it by hand. DE only hinders their movement in my experience, you need stronger stuff to kill them.

        • Piecemakers@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Cedar oil literally melts them. After weeks of trying everything we could get our hands on ($$$ gone), I tried straight up cedar oil in a spray bottle and found immediate delight in watching those motherfuckers writhe in agony as they shriveled and died. The others tried helplessly to flee, but I was undaunted and hunted them down, one by one. None lived to tell the tale, and all were chemically dessicated and vacuumed up.

    • TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They already have evolved resistance to the chemicals we use to kill them, hence the resurgence.

      Edit: from todays Morningbrew:

      It’s possible that France really is suffering from a bedbug epidemic. The critters have been making a comeback globally in recent decades after being nearly eradicated in the 1950s using pesticides. Bedbugs have since developed a resistance to these chemicals, and high levels of international travel also haven’t helped.

      However, French exterminators are saying that the public might be overreacting.

      The creator of the pest control website badbugs.fr told the BBC that 75% of bedbug inquiries his company receives are false alarms. Normandy-based pest controller Romain Morzaderc explained to the Ouest-France newspaper that in 99% of cases, other “nasty black insects” get mistaken for bedbugs.

    • theodewere@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      i think it shows a healthy sense of humility to admit that even the bedbug could unravel this mess at this point