Gelf Magazine The Bedbug King of New York

Entomologist Louis Sorkin, an expert on the urban parasites, tells Gelf why bedbugs love the Big Apple.

Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, feeds his research subjects with his own blood. Sorkin, you see, is one of the world's experts on bedbugs, and he finds it handy to keep a readily available food source nearby.

Letting bedbugs parasitize him is a good way to keep costs and inventory down, but it also lets Sorkin empathize with the thousands of New Yorkers who suffer the bites unwillingly each night. He literally feels their pain. As the creatures—once mostly controlled with heavy use of pesticides such as DDT—make a comeback, the tightly packed urban metropolis of the five boroughs has been a major staging ground for their resurgence.

"Bedbugs aren't attracted to typical food and water sources of other bugs—they're attracted to you."

Louis Sorkin. Photo by Steve Thurston.

So besides for learning more about bedbugs from a scientific perspective, Sorkin has started working with the city to help find solutions to the scourge. In the following interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Sorkin tells Gelf what he thinks of bedbug coverage in the media, why the critters aren't class-conscious, and why the little suckers love the Big Apple.

Geeking Out

Thursday, May 20th: You can hear Sorkin talk about bedbugs—alongside parasitologist Eugene Kaplan, author of What's Eating You?—at Gelf's free Geeking Out event at Jan Larsen Art Studios in DUMBO, Brooklyn (map).

Gelf Magazine: What made you decide to become an entomologist?

Louis Sorkin: Well, I like bugs. I used to be a premed student in school, but I was always interested in spiders and other insects as a kid. I took a field entomology course in college, where I first studied magnified parts of insects and how to identify different insects, and that's what I decided to specialize in.

Gelf Magazine: You started your work at the American Museum of Natural History working with spiders. When did you start doing your research on bedbugs?

Louis Sorkin: I started studying spiders for the museum in 1978. In the last 12 years or so, I began to do research on bedbugs. I think they're fascinating creatures. At first, some people brought bedbugs in, and I was able to receive more from some colleagues who reared bedbugs. I don't react badly to the bites, so I was able to rear my colonies by letting the bedbugs feed on me.

Gelf Magazine: You let them feed on you? How does that work? How many do you have?

Louis Sorkin: Bugs are in glass canning jars with small-holed openings in the screen cover, and these jars are inverted on my arm for feeding. Small bedbug nymphs that are just hatched from eggs are larger than these holes. There are currently four jars with a few thousand bedbugs in all. I also have demonstration boxes that house a few bugs each.

Gelf Magazine: Why do some exterminators use dogs to hunt down bedbugs?

Louis Sorkin: Dogs have recently been used to detect bedbugs. Insects such as bedbugs are tiny, and they're hard to see with the naked eye. The dogs are trained to associate the odor of the bug with a reward from the handler. Properly trained, dogs can help detect a bedbug infestation, but it is important to keep retraining and reinforcing the dog to get consistent results.

Gelf Magazine: Bedbug infestations are on the rise in New York City. What are some of the reasons bedbugs are thriving here?

Louis Sorkin: Multi-family housing and close proximity help spread bedbugs throughout the city. The biggest problem is people are not educated about bedbugs. Some people don't even know what a bedbug looks like. And even people who do some research online may have better information about adult bedbugs but can't identify infant bedbugs. Even pest-management people and researchers in pesticide manufacturing and salespeople in the industry read up on bedbugs but might not necessarily rear them or watch them for biology's sake.
People may coexist with bedbugs and not realize they have an infestation if they do not react poorly to the bites. They might not notice they have a problem, and the bedbugs can spread through the building until someone finally notices the problem. The bugs can be transferred on clothes and bags to virtually anywhere in the city. A bedbug on a suitcase could lead to an infestation of an entire office building.

Gelf Magazine: A recent article in New York Magazine described a woman's bed bug problems in the luxurious Upper East Side. Pests and vermin are usually associated with dirtier and lower-income areas. Why are bedbugs able to survive in places such as the Upper East Side?

Louis Sorkin: Maybe 70 or 100 years ago the majority of infestations were in lower-income housing, and people just learned to live with it. Today, bedbugs can be spread anywhere. Out-of-town travelers can bring bedbugs with them. Hotels may not have changed their procedures regarding how to properly clean sheets to kill bugs, or they might mix clean laundry with dirty laundry. All these aspects make it easy for a bedbug to travel from place to place. Bedbugs are also different because they aren't attracted to typical food and water sources of other bugs—they're attracted to you.

Gelf Magazine: Do you think that the media coverage is enhanced because it's not just a lower-class problem?

Louis Sorkin: Much of the media coverage has just been to give the public something to see. They may know of an incident that involves bedbugs and cover the story. Some reporters have an intimate knowledge because they actually have had or presently have an infestation and understand the problem firsthand.

Louis Sorkin at feeding time. Photo by Tom Gartner.

Gelf Magazine: Do you think the media has done a good job reporting about this problem?

Louis Sorkin: Some stories have been educational and others sensationalistic. Maybe they feel they know what people want to see, but miss the educational aspect. Correspondents also don't do the homework and understand about the bug identification, biology, and natural history.

Gelf Magazine: New York City has been proactive in trying to inform people about the rise in bedbugs. You can report cases to 311, and there are helpful brochures on how to treat and prevent bedbug infestations on the New York City website. How has your expertise been used to help inform the city, and do you think city officials have done enough?

Louis Sorkin: 311 is a good program, but its numbers [on the extent of the infestation] aren't always accurate. Co-ops and condos don't call, and they try to deal with the problem themselves. Renters will sometimes call to have a record of complaint, which helps if there is a need for litigation.
I've been working to help educate people about bedbugs. I've given interviews with different media organizations—online, print, radio and television. In my lectures, I like to use pictures to help people understand how to identify bedbugs, and on occasion, I've brought in magnifying glasses and actual bugs in boxes so people can learn how to recognize bedbugs.
There are things the city could be doing better. I'm still waiting to see what the new bedbug advisory board has to say. Recent publications have better information about treatment and prevention, but they only use illustrations of the bugs instead of actual pictures. I also think medical professionals should be better trained to identify and treat bug bites.

Gelf Magazine: DDT was an effective pesticide that was banned in 1972 after environmental concerns. What are your feelings on the usage of DDT, and are there any other pesticides that can eliminate bedbugs as well as DDT once did?

Louis Sorkin: DDT was very effective, but it was used so indiscriminately that even back then I read reports about bugs developing resistances to it. The resistance to DDT has become widespread among many insects, not just bedbugs, because of its overuse. There are some current pesticides that are chemically similar to DDT, and bugs are resistant to it as well. This is the main reason various chemicals are used to treat bedbug infestations instead of just one foolproof pesticide.

Gelf Magazine: What is the best way to prevent bedbugs from entering your home?

Louis Sorkin: You could seal up your home so that nothing can come in and out. Of course, that isn't really a workable solution. Education, alertness, and early treatment is the best solution. Sealing cracks and crevices in the home and treating them with pesticides can help prevent bugs from traveling along their preferred highways. Steaming, vacuuming, and heat treatment can all help prevent and kill bedbugs.
The most important thing is education. It is also important to talk about bedbugs. A neighbor might not disclose he has bedbugs in his house because he is afraid of the stigma that bedbugs are "dirty" creatures, and his refusal to act and let others know could spread the bugs through the entire building.