Bed bugs. They're a blight on this fair earth and the scourge of hospitality and tourism sectors worldwide.
These creepy-crawly blood suckers do a lot more than produce nasty bites; they cost a fair amount of pretty pennies to beat - not to mention sleepless nights.
A new study conducted by the University of Sydney is about to improve our understanding of the insects, and hopefully help us eradicate the pesky buggers once and for all.
University of Sydney PhD candidate, David Lilly, has discovered that thick-skinned bed bugs are more resistant to commonly used bug sprays. By comparing the skin of bed bugs - an exoskeleton called a cuticle - David Lilly found that the thicker the cuticle the more likely the bed bugs were to survive exposure to pesticides.
In fact, he says the development of thicker skin is one way bed bugs could have learnt to combat the sprays.
