Bedbugs are the bane of humanity. Not only do they bite, but people are ashamed to say they suffer from the insects presence. Yet this is normal for any animal, and humans are no different from other creatures.
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| Note how her face is obscured because of the shame |
Humans like to think that they are special and are somehow unique in nature. We evolved like other species alongside bugs who did well out of it. Indeed, humans even benefited while some bugs eat others. There are many of them: bedbugs, fleas, lice, ticks, scabies and so on.
We have tried and failed to eradicate bedbugs. Humans must accept their presence. Dead bedbugs are found on the earliest mummies. Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote about them. Everything has been tried against them from dangerous chemicals to plants and potions. Even smoke has been tried to no avail.
The only thing that worked was DDT. An entire generation enjoyed life for the first time without bedbugs. This was not to last, however, as the dangers of the toxic substance became known. Furthermore, resistant bugs survived and became the hardy bunch breeding today. So prominent have they become that 2010 was named the Year of the Bedbug.
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◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan ◆
