A carbon dioxide, heat and chemical lure trap for the bedbug, Cimex lectularius

Abstract

A trap for the collection of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is described. The trap was baited with CO2 (50-400 mL/min), heat (37.2-42.2 degrees C) and a chemical lure comprised of 33.0 microg proprionic acid, 0.33 microg butyric acid, 0.33 microg valeric acid, 100 microg octenol and 100 microg L-lactic acid, impregnated into a gel. Laboratory studies, conducted in a square arena measuring 183 cm on each side, showed that traps with and without baits captured adult bedbugs, but traps with CO2 emissions of 50-400 mL/min caught significantly (P < 0.05) more bedbugs than traps without CO2. In an infested unoccupied apartment, traps with heat and with or without the chemical lure were tested without CO2 on 29 trap-days and with CO2 on 9 trap-days. The numbers of bedbugs captured were 656 and 5898 in traps without and with CO2, respectively. The numbers of bedbugs of all development stages captured were significantly greater in traps with CO2 (chi2 = 15 942, d.f. = 1, P < 10(-9)). A non-parametric two-way analysis of variance evaluation of six different traps with or without CO2, heat or a chemical lure monitored over 19 trap-days in an infested apartment showed that trap type was highly significant (n = 2833 bedbugs collected) (P < 10(-7)). The trap with CO2, heat and a chemical lure captured more bedbugs than the other traps, but only caught significantly more fourth and fifth instar nymphs than all other traps. Otherwise, the catches in this trap did not differ significantly from those caught by traps that contained CO2 and heat only. The total numbers of bedbugs collected for each trapping date (pooling all six traps) followed an exponential decline over the trapping period. This type of trap, which caught bedbugs in unoccupied apartments with and without furniture, and in an occupied apartment, may have utility in studying the ecology of bedbugs, in detecting bedbug infestations and in reducing numbers of bites by trapping host-seeking bedbugs.

Smelling your way to food: can bed bugs use our odour?

“…Recently, attraction to these cues was confirmed in trapping experiments (Anderson et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2009). In 1932, Rivnay observed that bed bugs were attracted to cold mouse and rabbit skins, and suggested that volatiles associated with these host skins are part of the mechanism regulating host seeking behaviour (Rivnay, 1932).…”

“…Moreover, behavioural experiments using different synthetic blends and concentrations of sulcatone and C 8 -C 10 aldehydes will be required to confirm the modification of local search observed with our human body extracts alone. In all, this might lead to the improvement of monitoring traps (Anderson et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2009). These results improve our knowledge about the chemical ecology of bed bugs and their relation to their human host.…”

“…Of these compounds, 1-octen-3-ol, L-lactic acid and C 3 -C 5 carboxylic acids are known to elicit attraction in blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes, biting midges, kissing bugs and tsetse flies (reviewed in Lehane, 2005). However, these volatiles are not behaviourally (Anderson et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2009) or physiologically (Harraca et al, 2010b) active in bed bugs. This suggests that, in their search for a blood meal, bed bugs use a different odour spectrum in the human odour profile compared with other haematophagous insects.…”

“…In spite of the potential of host attractants for both targeted control treatments and surveillance, there is limited knowledge of the identity of these semiochemicals (e.g. Anderson et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2009).…”

Bed Bug Detection: Current Technologies and Future Directions

“…72,73 In addition to pheromones, semiochemicals include important chemical Many active bed bug monitors use compounds considered kairomones, such as carbon dioxide or other host odors that are components of human sweat or breath like proprionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, lactic acid, and octenol. 76 Carbon dioxide and heat have proven to be the two most effective attractants used for bed bug monitoring, 76,77 and human odor in the absence of carbon dioxide and heat seems to have a very weak influence on bed bug behavior. 78 Two active monitors, the CDC3000 (Stern Environmental Products, Secaucus, NJ) and the NightWatch (BioSensory, Inc., Putnam, CT), along with a homemade dry ice trap were evaluated for their ability to trap bed bugs.…”