12 FARMERS BULLETIN 754. 



leprosy. In the case of these, and perhaps other diseases, the bed- 

 bug shares the responsibiUty of transmitter with other biting insects, 

 such as body Uce and fleas. 



Tlie particular role of the bedbug as a carrier of disease has not 

 been satisfactorily determined, nor has it been shown that the bed- 

 bug is a necessary alternate host in any instance. In general, the 

 transmission of disease by this insect has apparently resulted from 

 the accidental carriage of the disease elements on the mouth parts, 

 as pointed out by Andre,^ after a careful study of the subject. As a 

 parasite of himian beings in private dwelling houses, where it may 

 seldom change its host, the opportunity for the bedbug itself to 

 become infected with human diseases and again to transmit them 

 to the human subject is very remote. This condition, however, does 

 not apply to hotels or to passenger boats, where the human occu- 

 pants are constantly changing. Furthermore, the fact that the bed- 

 bug attacks its host at comparative!}^ long intervals of from a week 

 to several weeks or months acts as a bar to its transmission of certain 

 insect-borne diseases, the biology of which requires a definite and 

 comparatively short period of development in the alternate insect 

 host. 



NATURAL ENEMIES OF THE BEDBUG. 



Living always in houses as it does and being well concealed, the 

 bedbug is not normally subject to much if any control by natural 

 enemies. Certain other household insects, however, do occasionally 

 prey upon the bedbug, as, for example, the house centipede ^ and the 

 common little red house ant.'' Such enemies, however, are of very 

 small importance and yield little, if any, effective control except 

 under very exceptional circumstances. One such instance is reported 

 by the late Mr. Theodore Pergande, of this department, who states 

 that as a solcher in the Civil War he occupied at one time a barracks 

 at Meridian, Miss., which had been abandoned some time before. 

 The premises proved to be swarming with bedbugs; but very shortly 

 afterwards the little red house ant discovered the presence of the 

 l)e(lbugs and came in enormous numbers, and Mr. Pergande witnessed 

 the very interesting and pleasing sight of the bedbugs being dis- 

 membered and carried away bodily l)y these very minute ants, many 

 times smaller than the bugs which they were handling so successfully. 

 The result was that in a single day the bedbug nuisance was completely 

 abated. The liking of red ants for bedbugs is confirmed also by a 

 correspondent writing from Florida (F. C. M. Boggess), who goes so 

 far as heartily to recommend the artificial introduction of the ants 



> Andr^., Ch. Recherches anatomiques et exp^rimentales sur la punaise des lits. In Jour. Physiol, et 

 Path. Gdn., v. 14, p. 600-G15. 1912. 

 * Scut igera forceps Raf. 

 3 Monomorium pharaonis L. 



