Insects in the City on bug bombs and bed bugs

Entomologist Mike Merchant of Texas AgriLife Extension wrote on his “Insects in the City” blog Thursday about bug bombs, and why they are not a good treatment for bed bugs.

A highlighted quote in PMP magazine’s Buzz Online caught my eye today. Alex Barbarin is a graduate student at Penn State University studying bed bugs and their effects on low income households. Speaking of his insect study subjects, he noted that,

“If you set off a bomb in your room, [the bedbugs will] just move to your neighbors’ rooms. It’s like date night for them.”

I’d like to link to that article that quotes Alex Barbarin, and I will, as soon as I find it. (It seems to have been removed, for now, from the latest PMP Buzz Online.)

Merchant also said,

The chemicals in aerosol generators are generally short-lived, remain airborne for a limited time and must be carried on air currents if they are to reach into corners and hidden areas in a room. It is unlikely that typical bug bomb products flush and kill many pests who are well protected in furniture, mattresses, behind baseboards and even picture frames, per Alex’s bed bug observation. Because of the repellent nature of some of the active ingredients in aerosol generators, if anything insects are likely to be driven deeper into their hiding places or into adjacent rooms, businesses or apartments.

[Emphasis added.]

We’ve been telling readers just this for a long time, but not nearly so eloquently.

And it’s hard to find documentation on this, so I am very glad to be able to point readers to this post.

See: Insects in the City: Bombs Away.