A lot of PCOs did not abandon Gentrol based on the information we referred to above, and I don’t think its use is going to necessarily hinder your treatment. We don’t have more information, I am afraid.

Based on the experiments of a few folks who have been bitten knowingly (under lab conditions), though I stress this is by no means a controlled study, there is no necessary and definite correlation between bite size and bed bug life stage. Bites can differ depending on the person, part of the person’a body, or time of day. Or, goodness knows, many other mysterious factors.

It is also apparent that some people’s bite reactions change over time (they may go from nothing to a reaction, and then back to almost nothing again over a period of time).

If you were treated twice, with the last visit two weeks ago, and apparent bites have just reappeared, I would assume you need more treatment. Please come to the forums if you want more support or suggestions:

http://bedbugger.com/forum/

This is the first that I’ve heard that Gentrol could make the problem worse!!! Has this study finally been published? Is there any more news since this information came out at the end of 2007?

My original bites were large, very itchy, and have left lasting bumps and scars. I am now getting small bumps on my wrists and around my neck. Honestly, they aren’t as itchy, though they have lasted for over a week at this point and are more the size of small pimples rather than swollen. Maybe these are nymph bites? Or do nymph and adult bites not differ? In any case, I am of course paranoid now that the gentrol has just made things worse, with a generation of baby-boomers now infesting the cracks in my wall, the carpet, and my bed frame…

Only thing is, I still haven’t seen any since the spraying… Am I going crazy?

not a silver bullet

Work at Sheffield University by Richard Naylor using the juvenile hormone analogue (S)-methoprene had produced good results. Better known for its activity with Pharaoh ants, this IGR offers a way forward. Recognizing the length of time it requires to achieve control, its use combined with a residual spray, such as bendiocarb, proved a talking point, especially as the IGR may heighten bed bug susceptibility to the conventional insecticide.

I’m not sure I understand the fine distinctions between the chitin inhibitors and juvenile analogs, so I hope someone will elaborate. And, is there an issue with bedbugs not “sharing” because they’re not properly social insects or does it not matter?

Also, just fyi, there’s a new study on methoprene being presented at ICUP by Richard Naylor: http://www.icup2008.com/prel_progr.htm (We know Naylor here because of his laundry temperature experiments.) Anyway, I thought methoprene (but not hydroprene; they’re both juvenoids I just learned) was found effective against bedbugs in the 70s. I hope this new study sheds more light.

Gentrol doesn’t prevent nymphs from reaching the adult stage, it just inteferes with their development so that when nymphs reach the adult stage, they are not reproductively viable. Hence the distortions in the exoskeleton.

I would like to know if any research has been done regarding the use of chitin inhibitors on bedbugs. Anyone?