Pest Control Canada (2010).
Humankind has always been fascinated by the world around him, and has always monitored other living things closely in the hope of learning more about them. But all too often, these discoveries can be clouded by people’s desire to use these for their own purposes. As a result, miscommunications are made, as these findings are passed along to broader mediums which are more likely to be noticed by the general public.
I am talking, of course, about the disconnect that can be found between the scientific journals which describe their hypotheses, experiments, analyses, and communications in depth; and the daily newspapers and other news sources whose job it is to describe these in brief, comprehensible terms. However, they risk leaving out important details while doing so. At times, these secondary sources will even depart from the original purpose of the primary source completely, replacing the original hypothesis with a new subject that might be more appealing to the average civilian.
Such is the case with the Toronto Star article “Bedbug sex, interrupted,” published by Nicole Baute on Friday, September 10, 2010. The article cites a study from BMC Biology which researched the mating style of the male bed bug; and the method that bed bug nymphs, mistaken for females, used to drive off the lust-fuelled intruders. However, the focus of the secondary article is not really bed bug behaviour at all, but a scientific look at pest control:
In a new study published by BMC Biology Wednesday, scientists in Sweden found young bedbugs, called nymphs, release an “anti-aphrodisiac” pheromone that stops adult males from sexually harassing them.
The researchers think the pheromone could one day be used as part of a pest control method to help families and cities battling bedbugs.
The bugs are an ongoing problem in Toronto, where Toronto Public Health has received more than 1,000 calls about bedbugs this year alone. Later this month, stakeholders will meet at Queen’s Park for a “Bedbug Summit” hosted by MPP Mike Colle, who says there’s an abundance of pest control options but little comprehensive research on which ones actually work.
The spike in international bedbug infestations in the past decade has brought new scientific interest and funding for research.
During experiments for Lund University’s chemical ecology department, Vincent Harraca watched thousands of bedbugs mate (or try to).
A word of warning: bedbug sex is not a gentle affair. It involves something called ‘traumatic insemination.’
A male bedbug’s penis is sharp, “like a weapon,” Harraca says, allowing it to pierce the abdomen of a female bedbug before releasing sperm.
The eager male will jump on not only female bedbugs but also other adult males and nymphs of both sexes, which are not yet fully developed.
Harraca and his colleagues found that, when mounted, a nymph bedbug releases a pheromone that sends a signal to its attacker to leave it alone.
“When the male jumps on the nymph, the nymph will open his gland and release the pheromone and the male will jump off very quickly,’” Harraca explains.
He believes a man-made version of the pheromone, sprayed alongside an insecticide, could be used to interfere with bedbug sex, confusing the male bedbugs into thinking all the others are nymphs and thus slowing the bedbug reproduction rate.
Because it sends the bugs running, the pheromone might also make the insecticide more effective.
Baute (2010).
Had a reader viewed only the article without also looking at the original study, he or she might conclude that the purpose of this experiment was to find an effective insecticide for bed bugs. Although the title and study itself both allude to a focus on a bed bug’s mating behaviour, large sections of the article are devoted instead on the bed bug problem in Toronto, and how this research could end it by developing an agent to get rid of the bugs. And while the person talking about this was apparently one of the people behind the study, the journal entry itself does not mention it once. The real objective of the study is clearly illustrated in the hypothesis of the abstract:
Background: Abdominal wounding by traumatic insemination and the lack of a long distance attraction pheromone set the scene for unusual sexual signalling systems. Male bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) mount any large, newly fed individual in an attempt to mate. Last instar nymphs overlap in size with mature females, which make them a potential target for interested males. However, nymphs lack the female’s specific mating adaptations and may be severely injured by the abdominal wounding. We, therefore, hypothesized that nymphs emit chemical deterrents that act as an honest status signal, which prevents nymph sexual harassment and indirectly reduces energy costs for males.
Harraca et al. (2010).
All that can be noted there are general facts about bed bug sex and the educated guess as to how they avoid the painful process when it is unnecessary—both of which were also in the Toronto Star article. What is missing, though, is the connection to developing a potential insect-killer. Additionally, the abstract’s conclusion merely reflects what had been originally hypothesized.
Conclusions: By combining behavioural and sensory studies, we show that the nymph-specific alarm pheromone plays an important role in intra-specific communication in the common bed bug. Alarm pheromones are commonly looked upon as a system in predator/prey communication, but here we show that alarm pheromones may be used as multipurpose signals such as decreasing the risk of nymphal mating by males.
Harraca et al. (2010).
As the abstract suggests, the real focus of the research done here is merely bed bug behaviour and communication. The paper contains no concrete applications to the results here, such as the concept of producing an insecticide out of synthetic pheromones. And so the original objective is lost in translation in the Toronto Star article, beset by unreliable conclusions which will still most likely interest several readers anyway. After all, with the recent talk of bed bug infestations such as the supposed one at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, such a way to eliminate them would certainly be welcomed.
Still, it would not be wise to heed early promises, especially when even the Toronto Star article treats this concept with caution. This can be noted when the article quotes Toronto MPP Mike Colle, who has called the study “piecemeal and contradictory” (Baute, 2010). Baute then goes on to state Colle’s desire to conduct more in-depth research devoted to finding a way to eradicate the bed bugs once and for all.
A reader might either like the fact that the article is aware of the primary-secondary disconnect, or instead turn to a paper that is surer of the primary source that it cited. Regardless, though, these concerns focus solely on the objective of the secondary article. Colle does not want a closer look on how bed bugs communicate; instead, he just wants the bed bugs gone, and is willing to present extensive scientific research to do so.
By this point, the secondary article has cast off the subject of the primary article completely, even though it never would have been written had the primary paper not been published. Admittedly, the secondary paper is not entirely at fault, as the focus on insect extermination came from one of the same people who wrote the original research paper. All points considered, though, both papers displayed here show what can happen when a secondary source twists new ideas into a primary source. And this is certainly a concept that people should be curious to learn more about.
Reference List
Baute, N. Bedbug sex, interrupted. (2010, September 10). Toronto Star. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from
Harraca, V. et al. Nymphs of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) produce anti-aphrodisiac defence against conspecific males. (2010, September 9) BMC Biology. Retrieved September 21, 2010, from
Pest Control Canada. Bed Bugs. (2010, September 15). [Photograph]. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from
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