Below are some interesting notes from Dr. Mike Potter et al., University of Kentucky at PestWorld 2007 (October) in PCTOnline. The headlines are all mine, the indented quotes are all from the PCTOnline report detailing Dr. Potter’s presentations at PestWorld.

Efficacy study of Suspend and Kicker: fine if you spray the bed bugs directly, otherwise, not so good

University of Kentucky researchers studied three resistant strains of bed bugs to determine the effectiveness of Suspend and Kicker. Direct sprays of these combined products provided 90 to 100 percent mortality; residual applications of this combination provided 28 to 65 percent mortality.

Phantom a promising residual

Residual applications of Phantom provided 95 to 100 percent mortality in the two resistant strains in seven to 15 days. There is hope for residual treatments of bed bugs.

It killed 95-100% of bed bugs in two resistant strains? I like those numbers.

Bedlam decent for eggs, good overall

Another study indicated that Bedlam provided 77 percent mortality of bed bug eggs and overall mortality of 92 percent.

Presumably, the eggs must be sprayed directly? If this is so, this news is less exciting.

Sterifab not for eggs

Sterifab produced very low egg mortality.

Bed bugs attracted to treated harborages if feces present:

Bed bugs didn’t avoid treated harborages with feces whereas treated harborages without feces were avoided.

This is very interesting as hopelessnomo noted here.

How far bed bugs attracted by heat alone:

The furthest distance bed bugs oriented to a heat source was 30 cm — there is still a lot to learn about the host-seeking abilities.

Remember, they are attracted to our heat as well as CO2 we emit.

Kramer also notes that DDPV (Vapona) products may be useful for bed bugs and will be available soon:

DDVP (Vapona) is one of the few remaining organophosphate insecticides that remains available to our industry. Resin strips containing various amounts of active ingredient (80/65/16/10.5/5.25 grams) remain available for residential and commercial uses (check labels for specific applications). Most notable change is an aerosol can (less than 0.5 percent) for residential use and a total release aerosol (more than 0.5 percent) for commercial use. These products reportedly will be available in the near future — they may be a new tool for bed bugs.

Doug Summers mentioned on the forums a while back that there are potential concerns about Vapona.  Although some have been experimenting with Vapona strips, we seriously discourage bedbuggers from doing anything with pesticides outside of label instructions.  

Read the rest of Kramer’s report in PCTOnline here.

• PCTOnline on its bed bug seminar last week
• Bed Bug Lessons from the Past
• bed bug nymphs, bed bug eggs, bed bug feces, on wood
• Cooper Pest evaluates ozone treatments for bed bugs, finds current methods ineffective

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