A family of three (including a 7 year old girl) on a British Airways overnight from Vancouver to London spotted bedbugs crawling on their seats and alerted the crew, but the crew said the flight was sold out and wouldn't move them, so they spent 9 hours getting gnawed by bedbugs, arriving with their skin "absolutely covered" in bites. Read the rest

Terminix has just released its annual list of the top 15 U.S. cities most infested with bedbugs, determined by the most S.O.S. phone calls the company receives about the stealthy blood-suckers. And the winning city for most bedbugs in 2015 goes to… (drumroll) … Detroit! Ohio wins for the state on the list with the most bedbug infested cities (five!).

The rest of the list:

Philadelphia, MI Cleveland-Akron, OH Los Angeles, CA Dayton, OH Chicago, IL Columbus, OH Cincinnati, OH Dallas-Forth Worth, TX San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA Denver, CO Toledo, OH Oklahoma City, OK Baltimore, MD New York, NY

No need for hysterics, but if traveling to one of these cities (or any city for that matter!) check out today’s Surefire Way to Spot Bedbugs in the Huffington Post. Their tips include:

1. Setting your luggage down in the bathroom (unless your room has tile flooring) 2. Pulling the bed sheets off the mattress 3. Using your flashlight app on your smartphone to inspect the mattress – including the seams – for bugs as well as small dark blood stains (from the bug’s excrement, if you must know) 4. Inspect the furniture and wall art

A little know-how in spotting these luggage-hopping pests might save you a call to your local bug buster and possibly months of your life trying to eradicate them. Read the rest

Yes, bedbugs are gross. But before you go all Conan on any creepy creatures living in your mattress, please be aware that pesticides are both helpful and potentially dangerous. With bedbug infestations on the rise in many American cities, the Centers for Disease Control is trying to make people aware of the dangers of using too much pesticide, using the wrong types of pesticide, or not carefully following directions. Know what you're using on your home and know what any company you hire to spray is using, too. (Via Jen Gunter) Read the rest