Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Video: Bedbugs in ACTION Dining on Entomologist
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 18, 2010
Modified Oct 18, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 18, 2010
Modified Oct 18, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Just in time for lunch, here's fresh video of an entomologist feeding his lab's bedbugs with his own blood. Call it gross, but wouldn't you do the same thing for your pets if they were starving? Watch as Louis Sorkin lets his beloved BB's crawl all over his arm and feast to their hearts' content. Besides providing a vivid glimpse into the life of a professional bedbug wrangler, the video also gives you the opportunity to see the parasites up-close and personal, so you have a frame of reference if you think you've got a problem. And you will have a problem.
Sorkin has worked at the American Museum of Natural History for over 30 years, and maintains a small colony of a few thousand bedbugs in four jars in his lab. (For research, not for revenge plots.) He reminds everyone that the media doesn't really show what bedbugs look like—teeny ones are pale and just a millimeter big, not the big blood-filled suckers!
Tagged
bedbugs
museum of natural history
video
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .