SPECIES DIVERSITY OF BEDBUGS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR SURVIVAL

ABSTRACT Bedbugs are blood-sucking insects of the order Hemiptera and family Cimicidae that derive nutrition from vertebrates, including humans, their feeding is allied to the transmitting several fungal, bacterial and viral infections. A rise in international travels and emergence of insecticide resistant bedbugs within the past decade has led to renewed interest in studying these insects. Anecdotally, bedbugs exist in homes, boarding houses, hotels and other human dwellings in Ghana but have been poorly studied. The present study sought to characterize bedbugs and identify environmental factors that influence their survival in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Collection of adult bedbugs was carried out in six educational institutions, two tertiary and four senior high schools. Rooms and dormitories of these institutions were carefully inspected, with particular focus on mattresses, bed frames, wall crevices, carpets and furniture. Forceps, brushes, flashlights and insecticide were employed in the collection of bedbugs. Bedbug eggs were identified by their cream to white color and size. The eggs were carefully transferred into containers and colonized in the laboratory for later evaluation of the effects of environmental factors that influence their survival. Morphological identification was done with the aid of a dissecting microscope and identification keys provided by Usinger (1996). A total of 335 bedbugs were collected, of these, 230 were adults while the others were nymphs. The adults consisted of 127 (55%) males and 103 (45%) females. Three species have been identified; Cimex hemipterus (94%) constituted the majority of adult bedbugs, followed by C. lectularius (3.4%) and then C. pipistrelli (1.7%). Bats are host of Cimex pipistrelli, and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time these bedbugs are being reported in human dwellings in Ghana. Morphometric comparisons between the three species showed significant differences in the width of the pronotum,femur and the antennal segments of the adult samples collected. Molecular analysis also revealed nucleotide differences in regions of the COI and rDNA base pairs of the three Cimex species observed in this study. This is a significant find since these bugs could potentially be vectors of zoonotic diseases from bats to humans, requiring further investigations.