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Can drinking a glass of wine keep bedbugs away?
The insects created fewer eggs when they consumed blood with 200 proof ethanol in it compared to those that sipped alcohol-free blood.
Wed, May 30 2012 at 3:11 PM
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Photo: Christopher van Schaik Muir/Shutterstock
The common bed bug mainly survives on human blood, but what happens when that human has upped his or her blood alcohol content with a few glasses of a nice red wine? New research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests bed bugs are not as fond of alcohol as their boozy hosts, which may lead to fewer bug bites.
According to the study, bed bugs prefer alcohol-free blood to blood with alcohol in it; the higher the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), the less the bugs eat. And, because there is a direct link between blood intake and reproduction rates, those bugs also lay fewer eggs.
"[Bed bugs] need a blood meal to grow and to molt and to reproduce," explained Ralph Narain, a Ph.D. candidate who conducted the work as part of his dissertation. "And one of their main hosts are humans, and we consume a lot of stuff. Alcohol was one of the easier ones to start with."
Narain presented the findings last week at the National Conference on Urban Entomology in Atlanta.
How bed bugs imbibe
While it's fun to imagine graduate students knocking back beers and feeding bed bugs on their arms, Narain took a more scientific approach in his experiment. He mixed 200 proof ethanol — the same compound estimated by a Breathalyzer — into four samples of expired blood from the Nebraska Blood Bank until he had BACs of 0.010, 0.025, 0.050 and 0.100 (0.08 is the legal limit for driving). A control sample contained no alcohol.
Next, he selected 20 adult bed bugs for each blood sample, weighed them, fed them their respective samples, and weighed them again. He repeated the experiment six times.
The average mass of the bed bugs that fed on the clean blood increased by over 100 percent. Those that fed on the blood with the lowest BAC, 0.010, increased just 60 percent, and the number decreased for each increase in alcohol. The bed bugs that fed on the 0.100 BAC sample went up a mere 12.5 percent.
As for the eggs, the control groups laid an average of 44 after the feeding, while those that fed on the highest BAC laid an average of just 12.
It's unclear whether the alcohol affected the adult bugs' behavior or their offspring's development, although future tests might attempt to measure both. Narain also plans to run tests on other drugs, although he wouldn't officially disclose which.
Way toward pest control?
So, can we just knock back a few glasses of wine every night to keep the bed bugs away? Probably not. "I'm not going to suggest someone should consume alcohol to control bed bugs," Narain said.
Ill health affects aside, it likely wouldn't help curb an infestation. While the bed bugs do feed less on alcohol-laced blood, they still feed, and while they lay fewer eggs, up to 95 percent still hatch. And it just takes a few to create a nuisance.
Dini Miller, an entomologist and bed bug expert from Virginia Tech, agreed: "I don't know what sort of implications it has ultimately, because unfortunately they still produce enough eggs to cause an infestation. So while they feed less, still, we're not going to experience less of a problem. But it's very interesting to know."
Brooke Borel is a contributor to Life's Little Mysteries, and is currently writing a book about bed bugs. For more crazy bed bugs stories, follow her on Twitter: @brookeborel
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Copyright 2012 Lifes Little Mysteries, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved.
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Charles Fowler
Jul 09 2012 at 5:07 PM
If, you can kill the eggs at your bed, that is the key. If you determined heat treatment is too dangerous or expensive, now what ? The big picture is you have a ranch, your're raising Bed Bugs and using your bed as a corral. First, spray your bed or encase the bed to kill the eggs so you won't be overwhelmed. Second, Make sure there are no problems with your bed. Nothing about your bed can be allowed the touch the wall or floor, but the caster wheels. Third, the new corral for the Bed Bugs is a dim
.... More
light going 24/7 where the Bed Bugs can be drawn to and removed with masking tape. Fourth, you spray the ceiling-wall line on two of the most distant walls from the dim light to move the Bed Bugs toward the light. Notes: Do not spray near the dim light or any other location, that will create a barrier to keep them from coming to the light. This dim light is most likely for life. As new Bed Bugs arrive at your home they will go to the light. Bed Bugs are drawn to you like Bees, by your Co2. A fan moving air near your bed will mix your Co2 evenly in your bedroom, making it hard for Bed Bugs to find you. Every other day a light spray on your bed caster wheels will protect you. Those in the Bed Bug business won't be needed anymore. Please beware of baised replies from them.This method seems to be the "Silver Bullet" for Bed Bugs. This lure will provide detection, control for the home and car. The poorest people will be able to handle their infestations. This DIY project can be done for a very small cost of parts. This is a very "Green" method. For all living places and whole house treatment, the hallways will become giant traps. The lights are there, a $5.00 dimmer switch is needed and spray. Lightly place DE on hall traffic areas where people put their foot down. Careful: My new kitten made a mistake, near the light. I moved the litter box there. Later I found a live Bed Bug in it. When the Bed Bugs stop coming to the light, they're gone, for now. If you have total control, you'll have complete relief. The Dim lights double for night lights and Bed Bug control. Bed Bugs are not exclusively Nocturnal. When light is used as a lure, this will lead to the downfall of Bed Bugs. Bed Bugs like darkness and subdued light. When you provide subdued light in the darkness they will go there. Search Google... Bed Bugs+ Subdued light. Bedbuggers Bed Bug forum is Overrun with Pest Control Operators who control the site to promote their Bed Bug Businesses. The web site is run by a host who has no knowledge of Bed Bugs and has sold his soul to them for information from them and to give himself credibility.Anybody who has any information to offer, that might interfere with Pest Control Operators ability to promote themselves will be surpressed to keep the information from being made available to the public. All treatments for Bed Bugs must be done by a professional and victims who suffer can do nothing to help themselves,is a lie. The public is being terrorized with false information. Persons making money from Bed Bugs,don't want, DIY Subdued lighting treatment, to be true. What is it? Has there been a cover-up? How could so many people in the Pest control business not know that Bed Bugs are attracted to light. Don't they look? Don't they want to know? How could they let so many people suffer? It's a scandal. How could reseachers not know? Is this how the World is? It's disgusting.
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