“That makes sense because modern humans moved out of caves about 60,000 years ago,” added study co-author and Virginia Tech entomologist Warren Booth. “There were bed bugs living in the caves with these humans, and when they moved out they took a subset of the population with them so there’s less genetic diversity in that human-associated lineage.”

New research shows that bed bugs may be the oldest known pest to follow humans around, infesting our beds for over 60,000 years.

Ever since a few enterprising bed bugs hopped off a bat and attached themselves to a Neanderthal walking out of a cave 60,000 years ago, bed bugs have enjoyed a thriving relationship with their human hosts.