They are the scourge of home owners up and down the land. Bed bugs, the tiny blood-sucking insects that can live in cracks and crevices in and around beds, are on the rise, say experts. Not only is the thought of them horrendous, but the clean-up operation, involving pest control, endless hot washing and tumble drying, can be an ordeal in itself.Now scientists in America say they have come up with a new, simpler treatment – a fungus you spray on your sheets. American scientists say they have come up with a new, more effective for bed bugs - a fungus sprayed on the sheets The researchers, from Penn State University, say it contains biopesticides - naturally occurring microorganisms - that kill the bugs.The latest fungus looked at was beauveria bassiana - a natural fungus that causes disease in insects.'They are relatively easy to produce in a lab, so you can use them much like chemical pesticides,’ said Nina Jenkins, senior research associate in entomology at the university.
In the study, the researchers used an airbrush sprayer to apply the fungus spores to paper and cotton jersey - a common bed sheet material. Another piece of paper and cotton jersey were sprayed with blank oil only.The surfaces were allowed to dry at room temperature overnight. The groups of 10 bedbugs were then exposed to one of the two surfaces for one hour. Both groups of materials were then placed on a clean piece of paper in a petri dish and monitored. The researchers found that all of the bedbugs exposed to the biopesticide became infected and died within five days. A bed bug coated with Beauveria bassiana Most importantly, the infected bedbugs carried the biopesticide back to their hiding places, infecting those that did not go out in search of blood.The researchers said this was a big breakthrough as bugs that hadn’t been directly exposed to the treatment were still affected by it.Ms Jenkins said: ‘The fungal spores were transferred from the exposed bug to their unexposed companions, and we observed almost a hundred percent infection.
So they don't even need to be directly exposed, and that's something chemicals cannot do.'Bed bugs can suck up to seven times their own weight in human blood They can survive for up to a year without feeding A room or bed with a major infestation smells of a mixture of raspberries, almonds and mouldy shoes Bedbugs tend to avoid biting smokers or heavy drinkers They can scuttle from one end of a bed to another in five seconds They normally feed on human blood between 3am and 6am Scientists think that a 'super bed bug' may have evolved in London that is immune to certain pesticides In the 1930s, one in four British homes This result is important because bedbugs live in hard-to-reach places. ‘Bedbugs tend to be cryptic, and they'll hide in the tiniest crevices,’ said she continued. ‘They don't just live in your bed. They hide behind light switches and power sockets and in between the cracks of the baseboard and underneath your carpet.’The speed of death with B. bassiana is as fast as Jenkins has seen in any application, but it doesn't even need to be that fast.‘
It's exciting, and it definitely works,’ she said. ‘We're working on the next step, and we have more funding to support these studies.’The research is published in the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology.Last year the Mail reported that the number of homes invaded by the parasites has exploded in the last decade and they are now a bigger problem than any time since the 1940s. Experts blame the insects’ comeback on holidaymakers going abroad.Many people pick them up in hotels or even on the plane and transport them back to their homes via their clothing and suitcases.The bites are similar to those from a mosquito and they normally come in threes. Adult bed bugs are around a fifth of an inch long – the size of an apple pip – and their appearance changes with their feeding patterns.Before sucking blood they are a light brown, flattened oval shape but afterwards they swell up to become rounder and darker. when you choose at checkout. Dispatched from and sold by Goods Wholesale Ltd.
The New Bed Bug Killer Aerosol 300ml. Kills Bed Bugs & Stops the coming back! RENTOKIL INSECTROL POWDER 150g PSI 28 RENTOKIL SPRAY INSECTROL / INSECT BED BUG KILLER SPRAY - 250 ML 4,712 in Kitchen & Home (See top 100) in Home & Garden > Garden & Outdoors > Gardening > Plant Protection & Pest Control > Insect Control > Indoor Insect Control > Bed Bugs, Fleas & Mites in Home & Garden > Kitchen & Home Delivery Destinations:Visit the Delivery Destinations Help page to see where this item can be delivered. Date First Available25 Sept. 2010 Would you like to give feedback on images? Contains natural floral scentsVery effective against Bed BugsUse in conjunction with our Bed Bug Mattress & Pillow Covers What do customers buy after viewing this item? Bed Bug Killer Spray - 300ml Aerosol Formula 'P' Super Fumer Bed Bug Killer Smoke Bomb 6 x 11g (HSE approved and tested - professional strength product) See all 290 customer reviews
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