The recent increase in the occurrence of common bed bug and tropical bed bug in shared areas highlights the need for rapid species identification at infestation sites, which is crucial for implementing targeted control measures due to differences in genetic and physiological traits. In this study, molecular diagnostic methods were developed using species-specific ITS2 sequences. Both multiplex PCR and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) protocols with a DNA release method successfully distinguished between the two bed bug species regardless of developmental stages in 0.5~2.5 hours, even with dead specimens. Especially, LAMP's simplicity and speed make it applicable for rapid and accurate bed bug diagnosis at infestation sites.

• Jeong Heum Han(Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Seoul National University College of Medicine)
• Junhyeong Choi(Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Seoul National University College of Medicine)
• Susie Cho(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Si Hyeock Lee(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Ju Hyeon Kim(Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Seoul National University College of Medicine)