Comments on: Bedbugs and the Buckeye State https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/ A blog about political change, among other things Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:57:56 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Sergey https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213824 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:57:56 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213824 We know now which specific gene mutation produces DDT-resistance in insects, there were lots of studies on this subject. With modern techniques of molecular genetics it is rather simple and cheap to test existing populations for harboring this mutation. But it seems nobody is going even study this question scientifically, everything we have now are speculations. This does not look to me as a serious approach. The problem is politicised, which is always bad, and nobody risks to challenge EPA authority and green mythology.

]]> By: Brad https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213803 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:34:28 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213803 Sergey:

Ahh, so now you back-peddle a bit. Fair enough. At least you are no longer claiming my second link didn’t have anything about bedbugs in it.

Now as for your idea about “rotating” pesitcides : it’s been tried before, with partial success. What happens is that “second time around” the bedbugs or whatever insect get their immunity back faster as some of the genetic changes that prompted the initial resistance have been kept in the population since.

In other words ASSUMING that it’s been long enough since DDT was reguarly used on bedbugs that they’ve lost a lot of the immunity (an assumption not necessarily in evidence as I believe the current crop hail from Central and South America where they’ve been spraying this stuff relatively recently) we would reintroduce DDT back into our local bug ecosystem where it would quickly lose its effectiveness.

Oh well, We hate Rachael Carson. She was a commie. Isn’t that argument enough that this is a good idea? *sarcasm*

]]> By: Sergey https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213792 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:44:25 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213792 There are no direct links to these experts, and google search with their names did not result in any quotes supporting this journalist assertions. I never trust journalists writing about science, being scientific writer myself. Almost everything written by non-specialists contains egregious errors, I always check first-hand sources before publishing my own articles. All I have found on the topic at hand are some 50-years old reports about developing pesticide resistance. This actually tells us nothing about today populations resistance. Everything obtained by natural selection is lost as quickly as obtained after selection factor removed: populations reverse to so-called “wild type”. I do not deny existense of such thing as developing resistance to widely used pesticide, but this did not prevent in the past almost complete eradication of bedbugs by DDT in 1950-s. I see no reasons why this can not be replicated now with the same insecticide.

]]> By: Brad https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213768 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:55:40 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213768 Sergey:

I could easily embarrass you. I’ll instead simply suggest you read my second link all the way through. Or, if you want, I can copy the text for you. Or do you wish to concede? Complaining about inaccuracies in the first article for instance, doesn’t change the fact that two experts in that article claim DDT doesn’t work.

]]> By: Sergey https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213742 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:43:18 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213742 Brad, your first reference contains some obvious falsehoods, like ascribing declining of bald eagle populations to DDT use. This connection was never demonstrated scientifically, it is just urban legend. And in the second reference there is no single word about DDT, it is all about pyretroids, that are completely different class of pesticides.

]]> By: Brad https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213585 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:36:41 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213585 Here’s another from a University of KY website: Says resistance was first reported developing in the 1940’s and was so widespread a decade later that other insecticides were already being recommended:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/news/2006/sep/bedbugs.htm

]]> By: Brad https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213581 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:32:47 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213581 Sergey:

I think your search was too specific. I merely searched for “DDT” and “bedbugs” and came up with several. Here’s one:

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/08/conservatives-blame-environmentalists-for-bedbugs.html

]]> By: Anonyma https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213549 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:39:51 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213549 I can tell you why. Illegal aliens come here from places with bedbugs — or they spend time in crowded stash houses with others who have bedbugs — or they ride in vans long distances to their stolen jobs with others who have bedbugs — or they live in bedbug-infested, overcrowded apartments in order to maximize the $ sent out of the nation. AND they work jobs in HOSPITALITY.

They make the beds and clean the hotel rooms, all the while spreading bedbug eggs, which are hardy little items. The guests unknowingly carry the bedbug eggs home and visitors carry them to their home. You have bedbugs.

Just ANOTHER reason to secure the border.

]]> By: Bob from Virginia https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213544 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:31:10 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213544 rickl wrote “The enviros want to protect “inner city” kids from rat poison and expose them to rat-borne diseases instead…which are well-known from history to have high mortality rates.”

I am currently reading a great book about the Black Death of 1347, the plague that de-populated Europe. It seems the plague was a rat disease that humans got in the way of.

BTW, I recommend the book “The Great Mortality : An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time ” by Kelly.

]]> By: bluemoonpaul https://thenewneo.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213537 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:56:47 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/04/bedbugs-and-the-buckeye-state/#comment-213537 PLUG! For Bedbugs of a lighter and less pesky variety, try my kid’s book, “Night of the Bedbugs.” A great gift for kids 4-8 or insomniacs of all ages: http://bedbugsmania.com

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