Abstract
The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is a blood-feeding ectoparasite which experienced world-wide resurgence during recent decades. The control of bed bugs is often challenging, due to their cryptic nature and resistance to commonly used insecticides. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the antiparasitic drug moxidectin on bed bug survival, reproduction, and development. The LC50 (lethal concentration to kill half the members of a tested population) of moxidectin against bed bug male adults, female adults, and large nymphs were 52.7 (95% CI (confidence interval): 39.5–70.8), 29.3 (95% CI: 20.7–40.5), and 29.1 ng/mL (95% CI: 23.3–35.3), respectively. Moxidectin (≥ 25 ng/mL) reduced egg laying of bed bug females, but showed no significant effect on egg hatching. One time feeding on rabbit blood containing 20 and 40 ng/mL moxidectin showed no negative effects in bed bug feeding and blood meal ingestion, but significantly reduced digestion rates and nymph molting rates. Although moxidectin at concentrations of 20 and 40 ng/mL only caused moderate mortality in bed bugs, it significantly interrupted digestion, development, and oviposition of survived bed bugs for at least one week after feeding. Moxidectin is a promising supplement of the existing bed bug control materials if its use on humans can be approved in the future.
Highlights
The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is a blood-feeding ectoparasite which experienced world-wide resurgence during recent decades [1,2,3,4]
The 95% CI of LC50 value for females slightly overlapped with that for males, but there was a trend that females had a lower
Moxidectin had no detectable effect on the survival of eggs
Summary
The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is a blood-feeding ectoparasite which experienced world-wide resurgence during recent decades [1,2,3,4]. Control of bed bugs is often challenging, one reason is that they are good at hiding, very thorough inspection and treatments are required for successful management [8]. Another factor is that resistance to insecticides has been widely established among bed bug field populations. Pyrethroids are the mainstay chemicals used for bed bug control over the past decades [4]. The resistance to pyrethroids has become widespread in bed bug populations across the United States [3,4,9]. In spite of the many bed bug control methods and materials that have been developed [10,11,12], new and effective treatments are needed to improve the efficacy of the current bed bug management programs
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