Infested : how the bed bug infiltrated our bedrooms and took over the world / Brooke Borel.

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2015.

xiv, 259 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Illustrations include life-size images of bedbugs on first page of each chapter.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-251) and index.

Prologue : Mysterious bites -- Cryptic insect : meet the bed bug -- The fall : DDT and the slaying of the beast -- The forgotten era : out of sight, out of mind -- The return : a pyrethroid paradox -- Annihilation : by any means necessary -- Fear : when things go bite in the night -- Money : the Wild West of the bed bug economy -- Mysterious rash : the psychological toll of travel -- The origin of a species : the bed bug's beginning -- Epilogue : Horror, curiosity, and joy -- Appendix 1. Brooke's bed bug guide -- Appendix 2. Bed bug songs -- Appendix 3. Bed bug literature -- Appendix 4. Bed bug limericks.