Efficacy of Various Insecticides Against Bed Bugs Dr. Bill Donahue Sumiko De La Vega Nebraska Urban Pest Management Conference February 12-13, 2013

“Brood Centers” Bed bugs are thigmotactic preferring rough surfaces such as wood or paper. Cluster together in contact with each other where fecal matter, egg shells and exuvia accumulate - Semiochemicals Return to these harborages after a blood meal. Quiescent state while digestion takes place. Stimulus to leave harborage? Hunger?

“Brood Centers”

Repellent A chemical that makes unattractive to arthropods a habitat, food source, or oviposition site ordinarily sought and frequented. “Push-Pull” Theory – Repel and Attract - used in the same environment

Objective To evaluate the contact activity (mortality, repellency, egg distribution and hatch) of selected strains of bed bugs exposed to treated fabric substrates.

Chemicals Evaluated Permethrin Impregnated Fabrics (3) – 0.52% a.i. Phantom Aerosol – Chlorfenapyr 0.5% Alpine Aerosol – Dinotefuran 0.5% Bedlam Aerosol – Sumithrin 0.4%, MGK % Bed Bug Gel - Lactic Acid 20%, Rosemary Oil 1%, Hops Flower Essential Oil 1%

Bed Bug Strains “Harlan” – Laboratory Susceptible Strain (Ft. Dix, NJ SRL 2008) Adults Mixed Sex Ratio “Earl” – SRL Field Collected (Modesto, CA ) Susceptible Strain – Adults Mixed Sex Ratio “James” – SRL Field Collected (Modesto, CA ) Strain, 7X Permethrin Resistant – Adults Mixed Sex Ratio

Test System * Forced Exposure non-choice test Aerosol “Choice Test” Permethrin Fabric “Choice Test”

Average percent mortality of adult bed bugs (2 Strains) confined to three types of permethrin treated fabrics (“Non- Choice”) compared with an untreated control as a continuous forced exposure lethal time (LT) evaluation Fabric Type 1 hr Harlan 1 hr James 2 hr Harlan 2 hr James 4 hr Harlan 4 hr James 24 hr Harlan 24 hr James #1 Beige UPH #2 Black Stitch #3 Knit Ticking #4 UTC Woven

Average percent mortality of adult bed bugs (Harlan) confined to three types of permethrin treated fabrics (“Choice Test”) compared with an untreated control as a continuous exposure lethal time (LT) evaluation Fabric Type4 hr24 hr48 hr72 hr96 hr #1 Beige UPH #2 Black Stitch #3 Knit Ticking #4 UTC Woven 00000

Total # of Eggs, average percent hatch and average percent nymph mortality of bed bugs (Harlan) confined to three types of permethrin treated fabrics (“Choice Test”) compared with an untreated control as a continuous exposure evaluation Fabric Type Treated Side Total # Eggs Untreated Side Total # EggsAvg.% Hatch Avg. % Nymph Mortality #1 Beige UPH #2 Black Stitch #3 Knit Ticking #4 UTC Woven

Mortality, distribution, average percent hatch and average percent nymph mortality of bed bugs (Harlan) confined to treated mattress ticking (“Choice Test”) compared with an untreated control as a continuous exposure evaluation Treatment Max. Adult % Mort 96 hr % Adults Untreated SideAvg % Distribution EggsAvg % Hatch Avg % Nymph Mortality 4 hr96 hrTreatedUntreated Chlorfenapyr Aerosol Dinotefuran Aerosol Sumithrin Aerosol Lactic Acid + Essential Oils

Conclusions Reliable and predictive small scale bioassay Sensitive – bed bug strains, chemicals (actives & formulations) Demonstrates repellency – adults/nymphs, oviposition sites – “Push-Pull” applications, but need to understand the dynamics when including the host and harborage in human habitats Evaluate control options based on unique bed bug behavior – “Brood Centers” - Urban IPM

Questions?