In a quiet garden suite in the Forest of Dean, an entomologist has made his own body the instrument of inquiry, letting tens of thousands of bedbugs feed on him so that the products meant to banish them can be honestly judged. It is a strange and private sacrifice, one that reveals how little of the old vigilance against these insects still holds, as they have grown resistant to the very sprays once trusted to clear them. Behind the eccentric image lies an older human story about our shared beds and the unease we carry when something unseen shares the night with us.
The Scientist Who Sleeps With 50,000 Bedbugs to Test Pest Control
Bedbug infestations can cause severe itching, risk of infection from scratching, and lasting psychological distress, according to the article.
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In a quiet garden suite in the Forest of Dean, an entomologist has made his own body the instrument of inquiry, letting tens of thousands of bedbugs feed on him so that the products meant to banish them can be honestly judged. It is a strange and private sacrifice, one that reveals how little of the old vigilance against these insects still holds, as they have grown resistant to the very sprays once trusted to clear them. Behind the eccentric image lies an older human story about our shared beds and the unease we carry when something unseen shares the night with us.
In a two-bedroom suite at the bottom of his garden in the Forest of Dean, Dr Richard Naylor keeps somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 bedbugs. Twice a week, on what he calls a feeding day, he lets a batch feed on his arm while he works. On nights when a new device or repellent needs checking, he sleeps among them.
For five years he has bred these insects and used them to test pest control products from around the world, often for firms that want proof before their goods reach the market. Through his not-for-profit, the Bed Bug Foundation, he also ships bugs abroad, mostly to canine teams training dogs to sniff out infestations in hotels. The bugs, he explains, go dormant without a person asleep nearby, so a living host is the only way to test anything in a bedroom.
The cost to him is small. After millions of bites he no longer reacts, and the red patches fade within half an hour. He is quick to add that this is not how most people meet bedbugs. Sprays no longer reliably kill them, and the psychological weight of an infestation can outlast the bites by a long way.
His advice to anyone suspecting an infestation is simple: call a professional. Look for inky black spots, often shaped like an x, and check the crevices around the bed rather than the bedding itself. Declutter, bag the linen, inspect the frame, and fit bed isolation devices to stop a return.
Pharmacist Ade Williams adds that bites often appear in clusters or lines, and though the itch can be fierce, they rarely carry serious health risks. Scratching invites infection, so antihistamines, emollients, and a cool damp cloth are the better course. For Naylor, the work goes on, with more feeding days and more products waiting to see whether their claims survive bugs that have outlasted the sprays.
In a self-contained two-bedroom suite at the bottom of his garden in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Dr Richard Naylor keeps somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 bedbugs. About twice a week, on what he calls a feeding day, he straps a batch of them to his arm and gets on with his work while they feed. On nights when a new device or repellent needs testing, he sleeps with them.
Naylor is an entomologist, and he has been doing this for five years. He breeds the insects and uses them to test pest control products from around the world, often for businesses that want to know whether something works before it reaches the market. He also runs a not-for-profit, the Bed Bug Foundation, and ships bugs internationally, frequently to canine detection teams who train dogs to help hotels find infestations.
The reason he is the test subject comes down to how the insects behave. According to Naylor, bedbugs with no one to feed on simply go on standby. Without a person asleep in a bed, he says, he cannot test anything in the test bedrooms, because the bugs need a host in the room to be active.
The cost to him, by his account, is small. He says he has been bitten millions of times and stopped reacting long ago. After the bugs have fed he gets a red patch on his arm, which fades in about half an hour. The bites, he says, do not bother him at all.
He is clear that this is not how most people experience bedbugs. Modern insecticide sprays no longer reliably kill them, because the insects have become resistant, which makes infestations hard to clear. Naylor says the effects can last well beyond the bites themselves. He knows of no other pest with the same emotional and psychological impact, and says an infestation can leave people with lasting PTSD-type symptoms.
His advice for anyone who suspects bedbugs is to contact a professional. The tell-tale sign, he says, is inky black spots left by the bugs, often in the shape of an x. They do not hide in the bedding itself but in a nearby dark crevice, probably down the back of the bed or around the zips and piping on the edge of a mattress. The Bed Bug Foundation's guidance is to declutter around the bed so escaping bugs are easier to spot, bag bedding and soft furnishings for washing, inspect the mattress and bed frame (especially near the head of the bed), use silica dust and vacuum thoroughly, and fit bed isolation devices to stop the bugs returning.
On the physical side, Ade Williams, lead pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol, says bites tend to appear in a cluster or spread out in a line. Beyond the itching, which he calls immense, they do not usually carry health risks. He advises against scratching, since broken skin can become infected, and says antihistamine tablets and emollient creams can help. The NHS notes that a severe allergic reaction is possible but rare, and suggests a clean, damp, cool cloth on the area to ease itching and swelling, while keeping it clean.
For Naylor, the work continues: more feeding days, more nights in the test rooms, and more products arriving from manufacturers who need to know whether their claims hold up against bugs that have outlasted the sprays.
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