Dr. Changlu Wang has produced a new fact sheet, FS1117 – Detecting Bed Bugs Using Bed Bug Monitors (free PDF download), detailing step-by-step instructions to make and use the dry ice trap developed by Rutgers University (see the ScienceNews story from December and our previous wish-I-could-be-a-fly-on-the-wall note about the ESA meeting).
Please heed the caution advice about dry ice. It is probably unlikely that a professional pest manager will use a dry ice trap in your home, for liability reasons, but you now have several options to consider if, like so many, you are on your own when it comes to inspecting for bed bugs in your home:
There are some inherent safety risks that are associated with dry ice, and it is always advisable to contract the services of a pest management professional that uses devices that have been designed and tested to monitor and detect bed bugs. However, the dry ice trap, when designed and used correctly, offers an effective method for individuals that cannot afford professional pest management services.
It is impossible to overstate how important it is for affordable solutions to be developed and shared with the public. I am so grateful for Dr. Wang’s and his colleagues’ efforts.
The fact sheet has a brief comparative discussion of other bed bug monitoring solutions. Solutions need to be fitted to the circumstances. On the very effective passive monitor, Climbup Insect Interceptor, for example:
Interceptors are not intended for use in vacant rooms and cannot be used when furniture legs are absent or the furniture legs do not fit into the interceptor. Interceptors need to be placed for at least a week or longer to detect bed bugs at very low numbers.
The vacant room problem is an interesting one. I hope we will see more knowledge develop in this area.
For our note about the previously published research, see Baited pitfall traps for bed bugs.
These pages may be of related interest:
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In reading the full text of Dr. Changlu Wang and colleagues’ paper on baited pitfall traps that you mention above and is cited as a reference in the Rutgers fact sheet, I came across the following and thought it was an interesting point about the problem of unoccupied apartments:
Bed bugs can live without a human host for an
extended period. In unoccupied apartments where
bed bugs are still present, the effectiveness of baited
pitfall traps may be higher because bed bugs are hungrier
than those with access to human host. The single
test in a vacant apartment showed that in heavily
infested apartments 1) visual inspections could seriously
underestimate the bed bug numbers, 2) large
numbers of bed bugs were not on the furniture and
survived the chemical and nonchemical treatment,
and 3) baited-pitfall traps were helpful in monitoring
effectiveness of bed bug treatments. From our observations,
bed bugs frequently travel from infested
apartments to the hallways in a multiunit apartment
building (C.W. et al. unpublished data). It is logical to
infer that bed bugs are more likely to disperse into
neighboring apartments through hallways when their
host is no longer present. Therefore, using baited traps
in unoccupied infested apartments may reduce the
risk of bed bug dispersal between adjacent units in
multiunit dwellings.
from:
Bed Bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) Attraction to Pitfall Traps Baited
With Carbon Dioxide, Heat, and Chemical Lure
CHANGLU WANG,1,2,3 TIMOTHY GIBB,2 GARY W. BENNETT,2 AND SUSAN MCKNIGHT4
J. Econ. Entomol. 102(4): 1580Ð1585 (2009)
Hi Tanya,
This is very interesting, yes? With important implications. In a lab experiment in the 30s someone found that bed bugs did not disperse until 35 days after inactivity. So, when do they spread and then what makes them go such distances and what are the cues they are responding to? (inquiring minds want to know…)
We obviously want landlords to not rent apartments that are already infested, for example, but it may be very difficult to know for sure. Active monitors will be helpful assuming they are available and cost-effective to deploy, but in cases where there is no pest manager involved and the property owner doesn’t even know… it’s really tough. In NYC this is a significant problem, I would say. Btw, there are two other articles that support across the hall dispersal and just sort of, well, how it does get out of hand, noted here.