Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
Bedbugs
To strike fear into any American these days, it seems like all one needs to do is, utter the word bedbug. Once the subject of an adorable bedtime saying, bedbugs, aka Cimex lectularius, took on a much more sinister character in 2010. While they don't carry disease, the bloodsuckers are notoriously difficult to get rid of, and across the country, people are weary of a marked increase in their population. New York City has been particularly hard hit, with the creepy critters turning up everywhere from the Empire State Building to Lincoln Center. They even stormed the United Nations, and drove humans to hold a bedbug summit in Chicago.