You’ve heard the nursery rhyme a million times when you were a child, but did you for a second think that anyone may actually willingly let bed bugs bite them? The New York Times wrote an article about Louis Sorkin, a man that biologist Bill Schutt features in his new book “Dark Banquet.” The book features different creatures that share a love for one thing: blood. The book is both instructive and graphic.
The article discusses how Sorkin lets the bed bugs bite. Sorkin’s purpose is to take a closer look at their colonies and understand their habits. To do this he has rigged up a glass jar with a mesh top, in fact the weave is so dense none of the bed bugs can escape and that goes for newborns as well.
The only thing that can get through the mesh is the bed bug’s stylets or in other words their piercing mouth-parts (where they feed). Sorkin places his arm against the mesh and proceeds to let the bed bugs bite. He claims that it doesn’t hurt and that they need to feed. He lets them feed for about ten minutes before removing his arm!
Here is a video of Sorkins’s Bed Bug colony; the video doesn’t have any sound, but you get an idea of what the bedbugs look like when they are active. We have more movies on our bed bug video page.
For more information see Sorkin and the book “Dark Banquet” featuring bed bugs, bats and other blood-thirsty creatures.
About 2 weeks ago I noticed a bug crawling on me and I took it in to an extension center to see what it was and the results unfortunately, were bed bugs! I called my landlord of my apts and let her know she called the exterminator right away, and I had to clean out my closets, drawer’s, entertainment center, pile everything in the bathtub, wash all my clothing leave it in bags, a lot of work.
I found my bed was infested with them, I never slept under my covers on my bed, I always slept on top of it with a fuzzy soft blanket so I did not know they were there? I have been bitten a few times, mainly on my back and neck.
Oh yeah I had to pay $ 200 for the extermination because the management says it’s the resident’s fault that they got in? I have no clue where they came from, and I am a clean person, which they have not preference I am told. I have seen a few, and have still been getting bit since the extermination it’s been a week now, the pest control guy says that it could take up to 3 weeks to take full affect. Is this true!
I also noticed bed bugs outside my building on the wall, but I think they came from a bag of blankets that I have not yet washed? The exterminator told me to splash them with bleach water. I threw out my bed, and very expensive bedding. He said my couch should be ok, because it was treated, even though I have seen a couple bugs on it?
I am very afraid that if they do go away, I’ll end up with another infestation. And the pest control people said that after 3 weeks they will inspect again, and hopefully I won’t have to be treated again? I can’t afford it.
I can’t sleep well at night, I have nightmares about them, I have been crying. Hopeless!
That is absolutely disgusting… oh my goodness! I couldn’t do it! He is one brave man. I hope he is getting paid for doing this!