We are a young research team at CZU (Czech University of Life Sciences). We specialize mainly on bed bugs – blood-sucking parasitic insects. We focus on their behaviour, ecology, and population structure, and our main concern is the parasite mechanisms of adaptation to the host. The mechanisms of population differentiation and barriers leading to speciation are the principal direction of our studies. Currently, we are able to observe the evolution and a possible emergence of a new species. The common bed bug was originally bound to bat hosts and lately formed an independent, human-associated population, which is currently resurging after several decades.
Our group is a part of the Behaviour Ecology research team at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at CZU.
UPDATES:
The phylogeny of bed bugs (see video below) further enlightened us about the evolution of the unusual pattern of diversity of male and especially female genitalia.
Our recent study mapped the effects of laboratory rearing on the bed bug phenotype. The volume of blood taken in does not depend on the source, but preserved blood leads to a reduction in body size. At the same time, we have formulated our rearing methods for future researchers.
Another study of ours examined in detail the reproductive compatibility of bed bugs from humans and from bats.
Ondřej Balvín
The head of the research group. He has been interested in Orthoptera and Heteroptera since elementary school. During his Master’s and PhD. studies (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, CZ) he focused on bed bug species, namely the ecological factors behind the differentiation of their populations.
He carries out faunistic monitoring of Heteroptera and Orthoptera in the Czech Republic, especially in Prague, in relation to the biotope conservation and revitalization, as well as in the context of urban ecology and ecology of invasive species.
Personal web page; Google Scholar; ResearchGate
Markéta Sasínková
A Ph.D. student, currently working on her dissertation dealing with the host influence on the common bed bug population structure. The subject of her diploma thesis (Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ) was the biogeography of reed warblers and their parasites.
With enthusiasm, she also takes part in conservation activities, whether it means giving lectures for the Nyctalus association (bat rescue centre and ecology centre) or conducting faunistic monitorings of bats for the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.
Eliška Kamarytová
A bachelor student working on the ecological factors of common bed bug circadian rhythms.
Terezie Bubová
A specialist in control of bed bugs and other ectoparasites. Responsible for agenda of contacts among pest management companies.
Lucie Pešková
Taking care of our bed bug collonies, and helping with a GACR project on bed bug endosymbionts.