A Brief History of Bedbugs
Hi Guys, by now, I am sure y’all must have figured my obsession with these pests and taking it ahead, here’s what I have studied about them.
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Inception & Spread
Bedbugs have been a sworn enemy of the human race for close to 3550 years.
A specimen of bedbug known to exist in Egypt is the earliest recorded association between the two races.
These ancient insects are essentially parasites and live off of their hosts. Studies have suggested that their first prey, before humans, were in fact bats!
Though bedbugs have the ability to spread like wildfire, their movement was limited by the movement of the host. But with the expansion of commerce and civilization bedbugs soon started travelling to different parts of the world.
They were reported in Italy (77 AD), China (600AD), Germany (11th century), France (13th century) and England (1583 CE). This post-medieval spread can also be credited to the increasing urbanization and improvement in housing quality since the late sixteenth century.
Pests or Potions?
In the coming years, bedbugs were regarded as both the pest and the potion.
Pliny, a Roman author, mentioned the use of bedbugs in a ‘cocktail’ in his book — Natural History, as a treatment for snakebites.
Some Greek and Roman experts also advocated the use of bedbugs to loosen the hold of leeches. People also believed bedbugs, in addition to other insects, had the ability to treat many ailments and diseases when ingested with wine.
Extreme Remedies
Often seen as the worst kind of nuisance, humankind has experimented with innumerable methods to rid themselves off bedbugs. Some methods more vivid than the others.
Like famous Greek philosopher Democritus, who suggested ‘hanging the feet of a hare or stag at the foot of bed’ would be a good solution, while some suggested hanging a ‘bear skin or setting a vessel of water under one’s bed would work.’
And thus, the eighteenth century witnessed the rise of a new profession, the ‘exterminators.’ People who would study the behaviour of these house pest and specialise in the ways of treating them.
Most famous among them were the ‘Tiffin & Son of London’ in 1690. The gas-lit sign over their shop read: ‘May the Destroyers of Peace Be Destroyed by Us. Bug-Destroyers to Her Majesty.’
Bedbugs in India
Indian litterateurs also mentioned the bedbugs in their writings during the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. I
n 1730 AD, Ali Muhib Khan ‘Pritam’, a poet from Agra, wrote a satirical and humorous book in Hindi titled as Khamal Bāisi (‘Twenty Two verses on Bedbugs’). It is the only available text written by ‘Pritam’.
Famous Urdu Poet Mir Taqui Mir, who’s enmity with the pest reached to a level where he was so enraged that he wrote;
“Finally, my sleep interrupted early
I spend the rest of the night awake and alert to hunt down the bedbugs.”
In the 1930s, bedbugs, lice, fleas were a grave concern in India as well.
In 1938, the National Planning Committee was appointed by the Indian National Congress, to prepare a detailed plan of action to tackling this plague.
The Committee began its work in 1939; with 29 sub-committees in its command and suggested that a Mobile Unit should be started which would act as ‘delousing plant’ or fumigation unit against the bedbug, lice, fleas and house pests.
Though the infestation of bedbugs in India saw a massive decline from the 40’s to 80’s, the numbers have been gradually increasing since then.
Many reasons can be cited for this unknown phenomenon. Unhygienic and over-clogged living conditions of the people in urban cities is one of them.
And all the data pointing towards the fact that the war against the bedbugs is far from over.
And studies say that damage has always been more in coastal areas. Which is why pest control in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai or any other coastal area rather is even more recommended.
