New York City passes Philly for second place on national bed bug list
Look-out Chicago! New York City moved up a spot on an annual rundown of bed bug towns.
NYC trails only the Windy City as the nation’s bed bug capital. Philadelphia, which finished second in 2022, dropped to number three in Orkin’s annual rankings.
Orkin’s list is taken from the number of treatments the pest-control company made throughout the country’s metropolitan areas between Dec. 2021 and Nov. 2022. An exact number of visits made by exterminators was not reported.
“Bed bugs are extremely resilient, making them difficult to control,” Orkin entomologist Ben Hottel said in a statement. “Involving a trained professional at the sight of a bed bug introduction is recommended.”
Hottel said bed bugs, which lay up to five eggs per day and drink blood to stay alive, are “excellent at hiding,” but visible to the naked eye. They’re 3/16″ long and colored dark brown and red.
The Big Apple’s leap to the number two spot wasn’t the biggest jump in Orkin’s rundown. That distinction goes to Los Angeles, which moved from number 12 on the list to number five.
The only other Empire State city to crack Orkin’s top 50 is Buffalo, which dropped one spot to land at 29. That surely comes as a small mercy for Buffalonians not wanting to leave the house amid brutal January weather.
There were no candidates from New Jersey or Connecticut. Other cities making the top 10 were: Cleveland; Akron, Ohio; Detroit.; Indianapolis; Baltimore; Washington, D.C. and Columbus, Ohio, respectively.
