Bedbugs forced to repel themselves.

• Position: Insecticides - Brief article

Combining bedbugs' own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs, according to researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus.

Stirring up the bedbugs by spraying their environment with synthetic versions of their alarm (as opposed to reproductive) pheromones makes them more likely to walk through agents called desiccant dusts, which make the bugs highly susceptible to dehydration. A blend of two pheromones applied in concert with a silica gel desiccant dust proved to be the most lethal combination.

In the past decade, bedbugs have become an increasing problem in industries ranging from agriculture and housing to travel and hospitality, so much so that the Environmental Protection Agency recently hosted a National Bedbug Summit. Moreover, the species Cimes lectularis is developing resistance to the insecticides approved to spray infested areas, treatmerits that belong to a...