Bed bugs have made a comeback in urban environments, even in the tonier neighborhoods, and Schutt explains some of the reasons behind that. For one thing, residential pesticide spraying has given way to bait traps that are completely ineffective against blood-feeding bed bugs.
Another reason is that the bugs have adapted to human behavior - just like pubic lice, their bloodsucking cousins. They’ve spread beyond the bedroom to new frontiers, thanks to a mobile society where the critters can hitchhike on cushions, suitcases and even clothes.
As bed bugs develop resistance to the pesticides that are available for use, they become more and more invincible.
Within the next two or three years, bed bugs are going to elbow termites and roaches out of the way to become the No. 1 pest in the United States,” Schutt told me.
