Patent ID: 8877451

Claim:
A method of determining blood feeding activity by hematophagous ectoparasites in an enclosure inhabited by individuals of a host species comprising detecting for the presence or absence of a host marker or a hematophagous ectoparasite marker in environmental dust in or obtained from the enclosure, wherein the host marker or the hematophagous ectoparasite marker is detectable in the excrement of hematophagous ectoparasite, and wherein the hematophagous ectoparasite is a bedbug; wherein the presence of the marker in the environmental dust is indicative of blood feeding activity by the hematophagous ectoparasites feeding on the inhabitants of the host species in the enclosure and the absence of the marker in the environmental dust sample is indicative of a lack of blood feeding activity by the hematophagous ectoparasites feeding on the inhabitants of the host species in the enclosure.