A new study, published in Current Biology on Thursday, found that bedbugs have been around for 100 million years — significantly longer than scientists had previously believed. CHANGING WATER FLOW LEADS TO MORE BUGS IN GRAND CANYONRoth and his colleagues spent 15 years analyzing bedbug species from around the world. The scientists also discovered that every half a million years, a new species of bedbugs “conquers humans,” and though bedbugs typically specialize on new hosts, some bedbugs change between different kinds of hosts. Researchers also found the two bedbug species that feed on humans — the common and the tropical bedbug —are much older than humans. “These findings will help us better understand how bedbugs evolved the traits that make them effective pests ... that will also help us find new ways of controlling them,” Siva-Jothy said.

Source: Fox News May 16, 2019 20:03 UTC