3109 Gardner Hall, Campus Box 7613, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613
I am interested in basic and applied research in bed bugs. This blood sucking insect has resurged as the most pressing emerging issue in urban entomology because its presence reduces quality of life by causing discomfort, anxiety, sleeplessness, and ostracism. The sudden resurgence of bed bugs and the limited knowledge of their biology presents many challenges for the bed bug management today. Thus, my research objectives are designed to provide not only practical information for the pest control industry and its stakeholders, but also to begin to resolve the knowledge vacuum that surrounds this pest.
Current Project: "Chemical ecology of host seeking behavior of bed bugs" funded by NSF
My entire PhD dissertation was devoted to studying the biology and management of bed bugs. After finishing my PhD I was interested in broadening my knowledge on urban pests, particularly in chemical ecology of host-seeking behavior in bed bugs. In my current project I utilize a comprehensive approach designed to increase our understanding of the responses of bed bugs to chemicals and physical cues (heat, moisture) released by their hosts into the environment. I am particularly interested in studying additive and synergistic interactions among host-derived chemicals, temperature, and moisture and how that affects bed bug orientation/attraction to hosts.
Other Areas of Interest
Insecticide resistance in bed bugs
Sub-lethal effects of insecticides on bed bugs.
Potential of bed bugs to transmit disease agents
EDUCATION
• NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow, March 2010-Present, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, with Dr. Coby Schal. Project: “Chemical ecology of host-seeking behavior in bed bugs”.
• Ph. D. (2009). Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Title of dissertation: “Biology and management of the bed bug, Cimex lectularius L.”. Advisor: Dr. Kenneth F. Haynes.
• MSc. (2005). Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.
Title of thesis: “Role of bacteria in mediating oviposition responses and development of Stomoxys calcitrans (L.)”. Advisors: Drs. Alberto Broce and Ludek Zurek.
PUBLICATIONS
Romero, A., M. F. Potter, and K. F. Haynes. (2010). Evaluation of chlorfenapyr for control of the bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. Pest Management Science 66: 1243–1248.
Romero, A., M. F. Potter, and K. F. Haynes. (2010). Circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. Journal of Insect Physiology 56: 1516–1522.
Romero, A., J. A. Hogsette, and A. Coronado. (2010). Distribution and abundance of natural parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) populations of house flies and stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae) at the University of Florida dairy research unit. Neotropical Entomology 39: 424–429.
Ribeiro, J. M. C., I. M. Francischetti, E. Calvo, V. M. Pham, A. J. Favreau, K. D. Barbian, A. Romero, and J. G. Valenzuela. (2010). An insight into the sialome of the bed bug Cimex lectularius. Journal of Proteome Research 9: 3820–3831.
Zhu, F., J. Wigginton, A. Romero, A. Moore, K. Ferguson, R. Palli, M. F. Potter, K. F. Haynes, and S. R. Palli. (2010). Widespread distribution of knockdown resistance mutations in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), populations in the United States. Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology 73: 245–257.
Romero, A., M. F. Potter, and K. F. Haynes. (2009). Evaluation of piperonyl butoxide as a deltamethrin synergist for pyrethroid-resistant bed bugs. Journal of Economic Entomology 102: 2310–2315.
Romero, A., M. F. Potter, and K. F. Haynes. (2009). Behavioral responses of the bed bug to insecticide residues. Journal of Medical Entomology 46: 51–57.
Romero, A., M. F. Potter; D. Potter, and K. F. Haynes. (2007). Insecticide resistance in the bed bug: A factor in the pest’s sudden resurgence? Journal of Medical Entomology 44: 175–178.
Romero, A., A. Broce, and L. Zurek. (2006). Role of bacteria in the oviposition behaviour and larval development of stable flies. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 20: 115–121.
Benavides, E., and A. Romero. (2000). Preliminary results of a larval resistance test to ivermectins using Boophilus microplus reference strains. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 916: 610–612.
Benavides, E., O. Vizcaíno, C. M. Britto, A. Romero, and A. Rubio. (2000). Attenuated trivalent vaccine against babesiosis and anaplasmosis in Colombia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 916: 613–616.
Benavides, E., J. L. Rodríguez, and A. Romero. (2000). Isolation and partial characterization of the Montecitos strain of Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1877) multi-resistant to different acaricides. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 916: 668–671.