An ingenious new bedbug trap developed by university researchers could keep a growing problem at bay while saving people thousands of dollars.
The simple contraption, built by a team from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, uses simple household items that should come to about $1 in cost, said a school news release. The traps can be placed under beds and near other places where the bugs tend to hide.
Working by exploiting the bedbug's weakness on smooth surfaces, the trap is made of two disposable plastic containers, a few pieces of masking tape and glue. The smaller container is placed inside the other, while the tape goes on the outside. When the bugs climb up the surface of the tape and fall into the container, they can't get back out, trapped by the smoothness inside.
"This concept of trapping works for places where people sleep and need to be protected at those locations," Phil Koehler, University of Florida urban entomology professor, said in a statement.
Described as foolproof and simple, the device is far easier and safer than employing flammable liquids, mothballs, pesticides or bug bombs, according to the news release.
The homemade traps function best if talc, such as baby powder, is applied to the space between the smaller container and the larger container to make a more slippery surface that ensures the bugs stay trapped.
The easy solution could help stem the increasing problem of bedbugs, which entomologists say are becoming more resistant to pesticides. Almost every pest-hunting professional had encountered an infestation of bedbugs in the last year, according to an April 2013 survey by the National Pest Management Association.
Treating a typical family home can cost around $3,000. In comparison, the traps designed by Koehler and his team are each made of about $1 worth of items. They estimate that around 50 such traps should be enough to catch bedbugs in a three-bedroom home, said the news release.
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