Background: The tropical bedbug, Cimex hemipterus, is one of the most important hematophagous ectoparasites that can cause various health problems by inducing dermatitis and transmitting a number of microbial agents. This species is mainly confined to tropical regions. However, several factors such as global warming, globalization and international trade, and insecticide resistance have triggered emergence of this species in wide areas of the world in the past decades. Despite numerous reports of
Cimex hemipterus infestation in different countries, there is scant information on the distribution and infestation of this pest in Iran.Objectives: This study was designed to report the distribution and dwelling infestation with this species in different parts of Iran.Materials and Methods: Bedbugs were collected from different districts of Busher, Fars, Guilan, Hormozghan, Kermanshah, Tehran, and Zanjan provinces from 2016 to 2018 and examined through morphological and molecular techniques. In morphological studies, the morphometric parameters of adult samples were examined, and in molecular surveys the fragments of the mitochondrial 16S and COI genes were analyzed following the extraction of g DNA.Results: Out of 660 samples, collected from 22 different populations of bedbugs (30 samples per population), 610 (92%) were C. hemipterus, and 50 (8%) C. lectularius. Morphological studies revealed that the two species differed in the pronotum, paragenital sinus, hind tibial pad and paramer characters. The 514 bp and 345 bp fragments of 16S and COI genes respectively were amplified in 200 randomly-selected C. hemipterus individuals. The consensus sequences were blasted in NCBI and compared with GenBank database. Analysis of these sequences showed 98% identity with reference C. hemipterus. The nucleotide sequences of the deduced gene in studied samples were submitted to the NCBI GenBank and are accessible with the accession numbers Mk908951-Mk908965, and Mk908977-Mk908978. The populations of common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) were seen commonly in rural areas and urban old villas, whereas the tropical bedbug occurred in residential complexes, apartments, hotels, motels, inns, and dormitories.Conclusion: This study for the first time reports the infestation of dwellings with the tropical bedbug in Iran. There is a delicate morphological difference between the two species of C. hemipterus and C. lectularius which requires expert knowledge for their identification. Currently, these cryptic species occur as separate populations. However, new biological forms and species of bedbugs may be generated by hybridization of these species. Regarding the wide dispersal of the tropical bedbug in Iran, different management and control plans against this emergent species seem necessary.