Free Republic

Warm weather this year has contributed to a resurgence in the mid-Atlantic region’s brown marmorated stink bug population, with researchers estimating at least a 60 percent increase this year in insects that soon will be making their way indoors to escape cooling temperatures. Record summer heat that lasted through September favored the resurgence of stink bugs, which breed twice a year — in spring and summer. Michael Raupp, entomology professor at the University of Maryland, said the favorable conditions enabled the bugs to complete their second breeding cycle in “spectacular fashion,” meaning they are poised to invade homes and businesses...

Just as students head back to college and families finish summer vacations comes the latest bad news from pest control companies: Bedbug infestations are getting worse and becoming more common in some places, including dorms, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, office buildings, and schools and day-care centers. According to a survey released Wednesday by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, pest control companies say there has been double-digit growth in infestations in the past year. About 54 percent of pest companies reported treating bedbugs in college dorms, compared with 35 percent in 2010; 80 percent reported treating...

Reports of bedbug infestations are on the rise, news that strikes fear into the hearts of frequent travelers. While hotels and motels aren't the only places where these insects can hitch a ride on clothes or other belongings -- after all, you can pick one up just by visiting a friend's home, and recent findings in movie theaters and offices prove how easily these bugs get around -- the high-traffic buildings are some of the highest-risk places to encounter these tiny insects that live by feasting on human blood while we're sleeping. By knowing what to look for and taking...