Bats may be one of the original hosts for bed bugs, and their caves, which humans once shared, may be the place where the bugs were first introduced to the human population.

Bat caves may have been one of the original homes for bed bugs.

In fact, it is thought that bed bugs spread from bats to humans when they shared caves as dwellings in Eurasia, according to new research led by the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.

Based on the team’s test of bed bugs from human and bat locations around 13 European countries, they found two divergent genetic structures.

Those insects that lived among humans showed higher signs of inbreeding and limited genetic diversity; while those that lived among bats displayed less relatedness and greater genetic diversity due in part to bat movements.

DNA testing showed no gene flow between the two groups, even in those that resided with bats in man-made structures like attics.

Bed bugs are thought to have existed for thousands of years, as evidenced by re