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Review
. 2020 Jun 25;17(12):4576.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124576.

Bed Bugs (Hemiptera, Cimicidae): Overview of Classification, Evolution and Dispersion

Mohammad Akhoundi  1 , Denis Sereno  2   3 , Remy Durand  1 , Asad Mirzaei  4   5 , Christiane Bruel  6 , Pascal Delaunay  2   7 , Pierre Marty  7   8 , Arezki Izri  1   9
Affiliations
Review

Bed Bugs (Hemiptera, Cimicidae): Overview of Classification, Evolution and Dispersion

Mohammad Akhoundi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The bed bugs (Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus) have undergone a significant resurgence worldwide since the 1990s. A compilation of findings from a database, including 2650 scientific publications from seven major medical databases, allowed us to document main evolutionary events, from fossil evidence, dating from 11,000 years ago, until the present that has led to the current worldwide expansion of Cimicid species. We present the hypotheses on the possible dispersion pathways of bed bugs in light of the major historical and evolutionary events. A detailed classification of the Cimicidae family and finally, an illustrative map displaying the current distribution of known Cimex species in each geographical ecozone of Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Australia are presented.

Keywords: C. hemipterus; C. lectularius; Dispersion; Ectoparasite; Evolution; Fossil.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of literature quest strategy used in the present study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thematic issues of the collected literature.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Panel (A) Morphological characteristics of bed bugs (C. lectularius), panel (B) Suggested updated classification of Cimex species. Species highlighted in blue and red have been likely originated/reported in the Old and New world, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
History of the description of bed bugs according to literature [17,65,74]. MYA: Million Years Ago. TYA: Thousand Years Ago.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Global dispersion of 23 species belonging to the Cimex genus. The medically important species are indicated by an asterix. The countries with no pinpoint means no data is available. The pinpoint location represents only the presence of Cimex species with no indicative geographical position of the infestations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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