Bed Bugs. Everyone has heard of them. A lot of people have dealt with them. Few people know what they are, exactly. That's why we put together this infographic. True, there are a lot of great online resources with super in-depth information about bed bugs. But that amount of information can easily be overwhelming.

Enter our graphic, an efficient way to learn the bed bug basics.

Click on the image below to view larger.

Since the bed bug problem started really getting media attention a few years back, Fox News has reported on the movement of the bugs, endemic infestations, EPA efforts to deal with them and more. Right now you can search for ‘bed bugs’ on their site and find more than 60 articles on the subject. But through all of this reporting, Fox News failed to disclose their dark, dirty secret. Fox News Has Bed Bugs.

Finally there is something creepier at Fox News than Glenn Beck.*

A lawsuit filed in 2008 by a former Fox News employee against the owners of the News Corp building reveals that in 2007 Fox News went through a number of elaborate measures to deal with a bed bug infestation. These efforts included insect monitors, chemical treatments, trained dogs who specialize in finding bed bugs and even a carpet freezing agent called Cryonite. Nothing worked. Or, rather, everything worked. They just weren’t treating the right problem.

Last week we shared a post on how pesticides are proving less effective on bed bugs because they are evolving. This, however, was not the case at Fox News. Once all the normal, and less normal, means of getting rid of them failed they chose to rethink their original premise: maybe the treatments were working, they just weren’t treating the source.

It was later determined that the steps Fox News were taking all proved effective. Only every time their hallowed halls and studios were cleansed, they were reinfested. Fox started searching the homes of their employees and discovered one infested with spiders, cockroaches and…bed bugs.

Jane Clark, the person who filed the lawsuit, shared a chair with the person whose home was infested. Clark sued the owners of the building in 2008 for mental anguish and PTSD from her 3 bed bug bites, which were traumatic enough to give her nightmares and caused her to quit her job. According to the associated press, the Judge dismissed the lawsuit since the building managers took extraordinary and immediate action.

Clark is planning on appealing the ruling.  The bed bugs are planning to move on from cable news, perhaps into daytime soaps or even primetime sitcoms.

*The editors of the Pest Nest have not approved this comparison, having no concrete metrics with which to adequately measure creepiness.

Sources:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/creepy-court-documents-reveal-fox-news-had-a-big-bed-bug-problem/

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4959477&page=1

If you’ve seen photos or illustrations of bed bugs you know how gross they can be. However, we have reason to believe that bed bugs in real life or video are much, much, more disgusting.

This video from National Geographic shows you exactly how nasty bed bugs can be. Take a look and let us know what you think: are bed bugs sicker in photos or videos (obviously real life trumps them all).

In what appears to be the opening to a James Bond movie, roughly $222,000 worth of Indian rupee notes have vanished.

First discovered around mid-April, 2011, the bank notes disappeared from their vault in the northern Indian town of Arthur shortly after a new manager was put in charge of the banks branch. Initially authorities were led to believe that the notes were missing as part of an inside job headed by the new manager, but were surprised to discover that the thieves were actually much, much smaller and a lot more discrete.

So who’s to blame for the hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of missing dollars?

Termites. At least, termites are the likely culprit according to the bank’s manager. The manager blames the old, wood building that the bank is housed in for the termite infestation and burglary.

Still, authorities are investigating the missing money now. What do you think? Brilliant coverup, or just hungry critters?

Black widow spiders are one of the most feared among their kind because of their notorious mating patterns, their poisonous venom and their unfortunate tendency to bite humans without warning. However, black widows are not as dangerous as the legends insist.  Only about 5% of bite victims actually die as a result of the attack.

However, these spiders are still dangerous (the female black widow’s venom is 15 times stronger than rattlesnake venom) and you need to seek medical attention immediately if you have been bitten by one of these pests.

Unfortunately, it is not always easy to distinguish a black widow bite from rashes or bites from other insects. Here are a couple of things to look for that will usually indicate that you have fallen victim to the infamous black widow:

• Victims will usually feel a small pin prick sensation the instant they are bitten.
• You will usually experience pain around the bite mark 40 minutes after the initial bite.
• It is sometimes possible to see two red bite marks after the attack, but in many cases they will be unnoticeable to the naked eye.
• Symptoms will start around 45 minutes after you have been bitten, but will vary in severity depending on several factors.
• It is common for victims to begin experiencing pain in the back and the abdominal area.
• Victims will often experience cramping and muscle tightness around the abdominal area.
• Other symptoms to look for include chills, nausea, increased blood pressure and difficulty breathing, and swollen tissue often around the eyes.

Bed bugs are nasty, undoubtedly. More than disgusting though, bed bugs are excellent survivors.

It seems almost as if mother nature has designed these nasty blood suckers to stand the tests of time, and of human attempts to get rid of them. Namely: pesticides. It turns out that bed bugs evolve much faster than many species, and as a result they’ve quickly and effectively grown immune to most common pesticides. Really.

Anyone attempting to combat bed bugs using store-bought pesticides is doing more harm to themselves than the pests.

Fortunately there are still effective ways to combat bed bugs. Apart from using a professional exterminator, here are 10 non-toxic ways to control bed bugs.

The next time you find yourself face to face with a bug in your bed, reconsider investing in average pesticides. Not only do they not work effectively, but there are much better ways to get rid of the nasty pests that are quickly becoming an epidemic in America.

If you’re unlucky, you may be living in one of the 5 million American homes being destroyed from the inside out. By termites.

Were you aware that termites cause about $5 billion worth of damage every year in America alone? That’s billions, with a B.

With worker termites chewing away literally 24/7, it’s no surprise that the damage done by these tiny, ant-like pests has reached such a massive — and painfully high — number. Even if you don’t have termites, here’s a few other interesting and creepy facts about termites to consider:

• Termite damage isn’t always covered by insurance.
• Alaska is the only US state where termites aren’t a problem.
• Termites eat wood and then regurgitate it to feed others in their colony.
• Termites are the second-largest natural source of methane, a greenhouse gas.
• Termites have been around for millions of years.

Gross, right?

Sources: National Pest Management Association, Ipsos-Insight 2005, Jefferson Davis Associates, Inc. 2008.

$550,000.

At least, that’s the number the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded in grants to help educate and build prevention measures to combat America’s growing bed bug problem.

Bed bugs, or Cimicidae, are tiny, brown bugs that feed on blood of hosts. Typically feeding for ten minutes at a time, and being able to live for up to a year without feeding, it’s not hard to see why bed bugs are becoming a serious problem.

What makes bed bugs exceptionally difficult to track and treat is their ability to hide remarkably well, travel on clothing and luggage, and mask their bite marks to resemble that of other common pests such as misquotes.

From CNN.com:

Over the next 24 months state organizations from Texas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, and New Jersey will facilitate programs aimed at helping prevent widespread bed bug infestations. . . . Typical steps for ridding and preventing bed bug infestations include correctly identifying the bugs, and then physically removing the bugs through cleaning, applying appropriate pesticides, and reducing clutter.

Fortunately for you and I, we can spend a lot less than half-a-million to protect ourselves from bed bugs. Even if you are currently dealing with the notorious pest who feeds at night and hides all day, there are options to rid your home of the critters.

What’s the best way to protect yourself and remove bed bugs? Apart from hiring a professional pest control service, keeping an eye out for the signs of bed bugs, regularly cleaning your clothing and belongings, and avoiding areas that have been reported to be known infestation locations.

From The Natural History Museum, London

Did you know that lice have preferred tastes?

It’s true. Different species of lice tend to stay with specific species of hosts. These lice have preferred tastes and habits that match with different types of hosts, from apes and humans to birds and even reptiles. So it should come as no surprise that some scientists are now theorizing that there have been lice who once fed on dinosaurs.

No kidding?

According to Dr. Vincent Smith — a “louse taxonomist at the Natural History Museum in London” — the lice family tree can be traced way, way back in time. From this article in the New York Times:

The assembled family tree shows that lice started to radiate into new species well before the end of the Cretaceous period, Dr. Smith and his colleagues report in the current issue of Biology Letters. The finding implies that their hosts, both mammals and birds, had also begun to flourish and speciate before the reign of the dinosaurs was over.

Bet you didn’t know that lice once roamed with dinosaurs (in theory anyway), did you?