LOUIS SORKIN has been an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History since 1978, and he is an expert in that most reviled blood-sucking creature, the bed bug. As bed-bug complaints in the city have skyrocketed in recent years  calls to 311 rose 34 percent, to 9,213, in the past fiscal year  New Yorkers have flocked to him for advice.

A mild-mannered man who studied entomology at the University of Connecticut, Mr. Sorkin, 55, works in an office cluttered with vials and jars, a picture of Spiderman, old typewriters and shelves lined with bug-related literature (“The Ants of Ohio,” “Sphecid Wasps of the World”). Tarantulas live in tanks by the office door.

As hundreds of bed bugs crawled inside a jar on the table in front of him, Mr. Sorkin spoke about the insects and about City Council hearings, scheduled for Tuesday, that will focus on bills designed to address the problem. SAKI KNAFO

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On a normal day we might receive a package of preserved spiders and insects from Honduras or Nicaragua or Australia. Scorpions are taken out; someone else works on them. Spiders are given to me.