We all know how gross and difficult bed bugs can be to deal with if you find them on your property, but scientist are now finding out that they are even harder to kill nowadays then in the past. A Study conducted by The Journal of Economic Entomology Experts found that bed bugs have shown significant resistance to a variety of different common insecticides. The worst chemical that bed bugs have shown a resistance to is delthamethrin which is the most commonly used chemical in bed bug infestations. The repercussions of insecticides not being able to treat bed bugs anymore raises a lot of concerns for the future of pest control treatments in regards to bed bugs.
The University of Purdue who also aided in the research in testing bed bugs with insecticides tested 10 different bed bug populations with different chemicals. The point of testing different colonies from different areas would rule out any evolutionary traits that differ between populations. In the research, the bed bugs were treated with the different chemical insecticides for 7 days while the scientist recorded the results. They found that in 5 out of 10 populations of bed bugs that they tested were less susceptible to bifenthrin, another common treatment chemical. To be considered less susceptible the bed bug populations must have had more than 25% of the population survive the treatment.
The researchers also found that 3 other populations of bed bugs tested had a reduced susceptibility to chlorfenapyr which is also a common treatment chemical. In the future, more research will need to be conducted to see just how bed bugs are adapting to chemicals, and what we can do to better treat them in the future.
If you or someone you know is dealing with bed bugs or any other pests contact Johnny B’s Pest Control today and let us take it from there. At Johnny B’s we have been eliminating pest in the greater Boston area for 30 years! See why so many in the greater Boston area choose Johnny B’s Pest Control when they need pest help!
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