Apr 16, 2012 – Bed Bug Blood Bait?
QUESTION:
Are baits possible for bed bugs? They have piercing-sucking mouthparts. I was thinking of perhaps a type of bait station with artificial blood and attractant built into it, such as a poison with a transfer effect. I would think it would need some type of artificial skin or membrane to use their type of mouthparts on.
ANSWER:
Never say never when it comes to pest management, and I am confident that universities and manufacturers are currently evaluating the potential to create an effective bait for these difficult pests. You are correct that the only thing they feed on is blood, so it would have to be some concoction that either is actual blood or so closely resembles blood that the bugs are willing to ingest it. I really don't know all of the possible stumbling blocks in producing such a thing, but let's give it a whirl.
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Are baits possible for bed bugs? They have piercing-sucking mouthparts. I was thinking of perhaps a type of bait station with artificial blood and attractant built into it, such as a poison with a transfer effect. I would think it would need some type of artificial skin or membrane to use their type of mouthparts on.
ANSWER:
Never say never when it comes to pest management, and I am confident that universities and manufacturers are currently evaluating the potential to create an effective bait for these difficult pests. You are correct that the only thing they feed on is blood, so it would have to be some concoction that either is actual blood or so closely resembles blood that the bugs are willing to ingest it. I really don't know all of the possible stumbling blocks in producing such a thing, but let's give it a whirl.
Putting live blood into human habitations might very well have a ton of legal implications, so that might be one consideration. Keeping the blood fresh and warm definitely would be another, as blood wants to clot quickly and to spoil, so shelf life is going to be a huge factor. You might have to buy it and use it immediately, and now the cost factor is increasing. Add to that the need to simulate animal skin so that the bugs would not be repelled by the whole thing. It could be that an artificial "blood" would be the better way to go.
I'm not sure about the transfer effect, and we might be more likely to achieve this from the use of non-repellent insecticides that are contacted by the bugs. If we could develop an active ingredient that is as effective on bed bugs as, for example, fipronil is on ants, it might be present on the cuticle of the bugs in high enough concentrations to be passed onto other bugs when they crowd into the same hiding places. However, bed bugs are not going to have the grooming and other social behaviors of ants and termites that are instrumental in helping a transfer of the active ingredient from one individual to another.
The sudden reappearance of the Common Bed Bug caught everyone by surprise, and developing new technologies to take the place of our less than efficient insecticides takes a long time, so hopefully we will have some amazing surprises on the horizon. Look for the market release of the new monitoring stations from FMC, called the Verifi monitors, as one of these new and unique products for our industry.
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