Pests of Urban Concerns

Urban Entomology

• Branch of entomology focusing on insects and arthropods associated with human structures

• Includes household, structural, and public pests

Why Study Urban Pests?

• Health impacts

• Economic losses

• Psychological stress and social stigma

Major Urban Pests

• Bed bugs

• Ants

• Cockroaches

• Termites

Common Bed Bug

• Hematophagous insect, ectoparasite

• Size of an apple seed

• Feed on human, chicken, and bat

• Sexual dimorphism

Dermatitis: Bites

• Uncovered parts of the body

• Group in a line

• Lesion can develop after hours

• Very itchy

• Reaction is very subjective

Effects of Bed Bug Infestations

• Release histamine and human allergens

• Psychological distress (delusional parasitosis)

Delusional Parasitosis

A psychiatric condition, also known as Ekbom Syndrome, in which people falsely believe they are parasitized by arthropods

Where we can find bedbugs

Secondhand furniture

Non-Chemical Treatments

• Laundering and Vacuuming

• Use pit-fall traps to detect

• Mattress covers

• Heat treatments

Chemical Treatments

• Residual insecticides

• Desiccant dusts

• Non-residual insecticides

• Fumigation

German Cockroach

• Major and common indoor pest; adult

• Small with 2 dark-colored stripes down the middle of the pronotum

• Found worldwide

• Difficult to control, short life cycle

German Cockroach and Public Health

• Mechanical vectors, disseminate foodborne pathogens

• Linked to allergies, asthma

• Identified 9 German Cockroach Allergens in feces, body parts

Life Cycle of German Cockroach

• Rapid population growth

• Egg, nymph, and adult

• Egg to adult in 3 months

• 160 offspring

• Can eat almost anything

• Live up 7 months

German Cockroach Resistance

• Resistance to 43 insecticidal classes

• 2nd most common insecticide resistance urban pest

• Cross-resistance between different insecticides

How to remove German Cockroaches

• Mechanical removal: cleaning, vacuuming

• Habitat removal: clean old food and reducing clutter

• Use dusts and insecticidal gel baits

• Sprays and pesticides