http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16166134
Quote
Hairier skin may be the key to avoiding being bitten by bed bugs, claim Sheffield academics.
Hungry bugs placed on shaved arms were more likely to try to feed compared with those on unshaved arms, the journal Biology Letters reported.
Researchers say the hair slows down the bed bugs and warns the victim.
Pest controllers say the UK is currently experiencing a steep rise in the number of bed bug infestations.
Prof Michael Siva-Jothy, from Sheffield University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, recruited 29 brave volunteers to test the theory further, watching the bedbugs as they found a place to feed and removing them only as they were about to bite.
He found that more layers of both longer visible hairs and finer, "vellus" hairs near the surface appeared to work as a deterrent to the insects, with the finer hairs also acting as an early warning system.
Prof Siva-Jothy said: "Our findings show that more body hairs mean better detection of parasites - the hairs have nerves attached to them and provide us with the ability to detect displacement."
He said they also slowed down the insect as it searched for a tasty spot to bite.
HAH! The REAL joke is what happens to the little bastards when they finally burrow through all the hair...
...and find themselves out the other side.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 15, 2011, 12:25:46 AM
HAH! The REAL joke is what happens to the little bastards when they finally burrow through all the hair...
...and find themselves out the other side.
:x
This is definitely true. Ticks cannot get through my leg hair. I've picked so many of the little fuckers off as they scramble around that labyrinth. I assume if I left them long enough they'd just starve to death.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 15, 2011, 12:25:46 AM
HAH! The REAL joke is what happens to the little bastards when they finally burrow through all the hair...
...and find themselves out the other side.
:spittake:
ITT, Roger reveals that he is actually the hair monster from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. :lulz:
:spittake:
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 15, 2011, 12:42:54 AM
ITT, Roger reveals that he is actually the hair monster from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. :lulz:
:horrormirth:
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 15, 2011, 12:42:54 AM
ITT, Roger reveals that he is actually the hair monster from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. :lulz:
Yep. Engineer boots and eyeballs. That's all there is under the hair.
My Staaaaaaaaaarrrrrs...
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yXeXdrqgD7Y/Tun2vzaQDGI/AAAAAAAAAWI/HqIdVTdyWJ0/s640/11%2B-%2B1)
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on December 15, 2011, 01:50:16 PM
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yXeXdrqgD7Y/Tun2vzaQDGI/AAAAAAAAAWI/HqIdVTdyWJ0/s640/11%2B-%2B1)
:lulz:
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on December 15, 2011, 01:50:16 PM
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yXeXdrqgD7Y/Tun2vzaQDGI/AAAAAAAAAWI/HqIdVTdyWJ0/s640/11%2B-%2B1)
Oh, that's DISTURBING. :lol:
Incidentally, I want those shoes.