There has been a huge upsurge in bedbugs that not only affects people in public accomodation, but also people who work in these areas.
Though there is a lot of information of the effects of bedbugs, there is relatively little on methods to control them, particularly baited lures that have been so sucessful with insects like fruit flys. Some pherenomes, carbon dioxide and heat have all been used as attractants, with limited success. Temperatures above 45C seem to kill all stages of the insect.
I chanced across a 1943 paper on the use of bean leaves to control bedbugs:
- Richardson, H. H. (1943). “The Action of Bean Leaves Against the Bedbug.” Journal of Economic Entomology 36(4): 543-545.
Bean leaves are spread across the floor and left overnight. The bedbugs get trapped by the hooks on the leaves and the leaves with bedbugs are gathered up each day for incineration. Though complete elimination would not be possible, repeated treatment can control the problem.
Bedbug trapped on bean leaf
Bean leaf hooks bedbug leg
Other leaves are known to also trap bedbugs. For people adverse to the use of powerful insecticides, this sounds like a useful alternative, particularly when travelling in rural areas. I’m not sure where you would get bean leaves in a city. Perhaps the addition of an attractant would make the method more effective.
