How Do Pest Control Professionals Monitor Indoor Bed Bug Populations?
Bed bug infestations must be addressed by licensed pest control professionals, as these bloodsucking insect pests are tremendously difficult to eliminate from infested homes, and store-bought bed bug control products are largely ineffective. Even most professional-grade insecticides are inadequate for the purpose of bed bug control, and infestations are usually eliminated by combining various non-chemical extermination methods, such as high heat, steam and vacuuming. Heat treatments have become the most reliable method of bed bug eradication, but heavy infestations sometimes require the additional use of minimal insecticides in order to be eliminated. Many pest control professionals set up monitors within bed bug-infested homes in order accurately estimate the size of bed bug populations and to detect the location of their harborages.
These days, it is common for pest control professionals to set up multiple bed bug monitors near beds, furniture and other probable harborage sites within infested homes. These monitors are useful for luring and trapping bed bugs as they travel from their harborage sites to their human blood host during the nighttime hours. Several different types of bed bug monitoring products are used by pest control professionals, and by detecting bed bug hiding spots, monitors often save pest control professionals from the hassle of disassembling furniture to find the insect pests. Generally, each monitor falls into one of two categories known as passive and active monitors, both of which are designed to trap bed bugs.
Active monitors lure bed bugs with one or a combination of attractants, such as heat, carbon dioxide, pheromones, or host odors. These attractants lure bed bugs out of their harborages and into a sticky trap or pitfall trap within the monitor. Active monitors successfully pinpoint harborage sites where bed bugs would otherwise remain hidden. Passive monitors are much less sophisticated, as they are designed to trap bed bugs by exploiting their attraction to tight and dark spaces, and they do not lure bed bugs with odorous attractants. A third type of bed bug monitor known as an interceptor monitor is designed to trap bed bugs as they travel to their sleeping human hosts. Interceptor monitors see humans act as bait for trapping bed bugs, and these products resemble cups that are easily placed under the legs of bed frames and furniture. One study showed that interceptor monitors captured six times more bed bugs than pest control professionals were able to find during visual inspections.
Have you ever used a bed bug monitoring production in your home?
