It’s a question that has long puzzled scientists and caused lots of arguments among experts.

Now, a clever study has shown it’s possible that our body hair helps to keep us free from parasites.

The light, fluffy hair that you can see on your arms and other parts of your body is called vellus hair. It is this kind of hair that scientists have been investigating.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield got 29 volunteers to have bed bugs placed on their arms. One arm of each volunteer had a small shaved area, while the other was left as normal.

The researchers found that hair increases the time bed bugs spend searching for a meal, which is a disadvantage for the bug because it wastes crucial energy while it is roaming.

The nerve sensations caused when the bugs walked on the arm hair also increased the chances of the bugs being detected by the volunteers.