Patent ID: 7727734

Claim:
A method of determining a likelihood of blood feeding activity by a hematophagous ectoparasite in an enclosure inhabited by individuals of a host species, wherein the hematophagous ectoparasite is a bedbug, the method comprising the steps of: a) collecting a sample of environmental dust from the enclosure; b) detecting for the presence or absence in the environmental dust sample of a marker selected from the group of markers consisting of host hemoglobin, hematophagous ectoparasite salivary protein antigens, and combinations of host hemoglobin and hematophagous ectoparasite salivary protein antigens, which host hemoglobin marker or hematophagous salivary protein antigen marker is detectable in excrement of the hematophagous ectoparasite, wherein detecting the presence of the marker in the environmental dust sample is indicative of a likelihood of blood feeding activity by the hematophagous ectoparasites feeding on the inhabitants of the host species in the enclosure and wherein the absence of the marker in the environmental dust sample is indicative of a likelihood of a lack of blood feeding activity by the hematophagous ectoparasites feeding on the inhabitants of the host species in the enclosure.