Bed Bugs Becoming More Resistant to Insecticides
Check out the tricks bed bugs play to fight insecticide.
A new study shows that bed bugs may have adapted to be less affected by insecticide.
A common insecticide used to kill bed bugs, called pyrethroid, is chosen because of its low cost, effectiveness, and lower risk to humans and pets, but over the years, bed bugs have developed a resistance to it, and infestations are increasing.
By looking at different groups of bed bugs, the researchers found 14 genes that indicated biological changes.
One of the authors of the study, Subba Palli, professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky in the United States said: “We are hypothesizing that having these genes expressed in the epidermis will provide a first line of defense as insecticides penetrate the skin.”
Bed bugs are a pest that feed on the blood of their prey.
Bed bugs are believed to live in all parts of the world, and are especially difficult to eradicate because they can go for months without food.
In India and the US, exterminators are using similar techniques to eradicate the insects.
Palli said: "They take all of the furniture out, and they heat up the house. That seems to be the way to exterminate them if the infestation is bad."
A new study shows that bed bugs may have adapted to be less affected by insecticide.
A common insecticide used to kill bed bugs, called pyrethroid, is chosen because of its low cost, effectiveness, and lower risk to humans and pets, but over the years, bed bugs have developed a resistance to it, and infestations are increasing.
By looking at different groups of bed bugs, the researchers found 14 genes that indicated biological changes.
One of the authors of the study, Subba Palli, professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky in the United States said: “We are hypothesizing that having these genes expressed in the epidermis will provide a first line of defense as insecticides penetrate the skin.”
Bed bugs are a pest that feed on the blood of their prey.
Bed bugs are believed to live in all parts of the world, and are especially difficult to eradicate because they can go for months without food.
In India and the US, exterminators are using similar techniques to eradicate the insects.
Palli said: "They take all of the furniture out, and they heat up the house. That seems to be the way to exterminate them if the infestation is bad."