News Animals

Bedbugs may have been one of the first urban pests

The bloodsuckers’ population spiked around the time humans congregated in the first cities

A fat bedbug is perched on someone's skin.

Bedbugs (one shown on human skin) may be among the first pests to truly exploit and thrive in the urban environment, increasing sharply in population during the dawn of the first cities.

Benoit Guenard

By Jake Buehler

The earliest cities may have had plenty of parasitic, six-legged tenants. 

Common bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) experienced a dramatic jump in population size around the time humans congregated in the first cities.