Cimicidae 307 



Bibliography 

 Mundinger, F. G. 1922. N. Y. State College of Forestry Tech. Publ. 16:149. 



Family cimicidae 



BREEDING AND REARING CIMEX LECTULARIUS 



R. M. Jones, Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, Illinois 



THE experiments were conducted under constant conditions of tem- 

 perature and relative humidity. Incubating ovens were used to obtain 

 the desired temperatures and relative humidities were kept constant by 

 using saturated solutions of certain inorganic salts [see footnote on 

 p. 307 ] . The eggs were obtained from bedbugs kept in small stender 

 dishes in a glass battery jar under a constant condition of 27 C. and 

 75% relative humidity. These bugs were fed every six days by being 

 placed in wide-mouthed glass tubes and held against the forearm.* The 

 females deposited their eggs on small circular pieces of paper toweling 

 placed in the dishes for that purpose. At least once a day, or oftener 

 when an experiment required an accurate record of the time the eggs 

 were laid, the papers were taken out and the eggs removed with a 

 camel's hair brush. They were then put in other jars under the same con- 

 ditions and used for experimental work as soon as they were hatched. 



The following method was employed in rearing the bugs. Short pieces 

 of 8 mm. by 40 mm. glass tubing were ground to a roughened surface on 

 one end by applying to an emery wheel. On this end was then glued a 

 small circular piece of 60 mesh bolting cloth, the other end being closed 

 with the cap of a No. 000 gelatin capsule in which holes were punched to 

 allow free circulation of air. One egg was placed in each tube and this 

 furnished the permanent home for the bedbugs. The cages containing 

 the eggs were kept under the conditions outlined above. After hatching, 

 the nymphs were permitted to feed by holding the tubes against the 

 wrist, no difficulty being experienced by the nymph in inserting the 

 rostrum between the meshes of the bolting cloth. By using this method 

 it was not necessary to remove the bugs from the cages until after they 

 had reached the adult stage. The jars were aerated each day by fanning 

 in fresh air with a piece of cardboard. 



In determining the length of time required for incubation the eggs 

 were placed in 10 mm. by 50 mm. shell vials. These were then placed 

 in 20 mm. by 80 mm. vials containing a saturated solution of the salt 



♦Editor's Note: Ezekiel Rivnay, in Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 23:758, 1930, gives a list 

 of recorded hosts for bedbugs and on which they presumably may be fed for experimental 

 purposes. This list includes: bat, cat, calf, dog, guinea pig, hare, mouse, rat, monkey, 

 rabbit, duck, goose, hen, pigeon, sparrow, starling, and swallow. M. E. D. 



