CIMEX LECTULARIUS L. (HEMIPTERA: CIMICIDAE) – RETURN IN ROMANIA

Cimex lectularius is an ectoparasitic species with a cosmopolitan distribution adapted to a temporarily obligate hematophagous lifestyle. Common presence throughout the world until the beginning of the 1950s, the bed bug has no longer been reported in the following decades as a result of its populations being managed with DDT, Romania becoming the largest producer of this insecticide at the European level. If the first reports regarding the recent return of the species in Europe date back to the end of the 90s, the reports are more recent in Romania. An analysis of the YouTube platform regarding bed bugs in our country revealed the first record in 2013. In Pitesti, the species was recorded for the first time in 2019, with an increase in the number of infestation cases in recent years. The increase of tourism and international trade, the main factors favouring the spread of the species, call for new measures necessary to prevent and control the spread of the bed bug, and ensure public health.