‘Invincible’ bed bugs now just part of the furniture

BED bugs are now so resistant to poison that entire communities have given up attempting to eradicate the pests and are instead learning to live alongside them, an expert has claimed.

Dr Heather Lynch, a lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, discovered that residents of the city’s Govanhill area had chosen to accept the insects after running out of ways to kill them. Writing in The Conversation, Dr Lynch said some people felt the best response was to learn to live “side-byside” with the insects and adapt.

She explained: “The experience of people in Govanhill is that once these insects become endemic, they are effectively impossible to remove.” Dr Lynch said the area had seen “a significant rise” in bed bugs, but the problem was often compounded by the insects lying dormant for extensive periods.

Despite the ongoing efforts of the city council to rid Glasgow of the issue, Dr Lynch concluded that the problem might be just too big to solve.

She said: “Many people who have come to terms with the fact that you can’t beat bugs resign themselves to living with them instead.”

She described how one resident felt ashamed and horrified by the bugs, but eventually accepted “reluctantly” that they may be the norm.

Dr Lynch concluded that those residents who have learned to live with the bugs may be ahead of the curve, as they are adapting to their environments, rather than using harmful products.