Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Bedbugs Have Favourite Colours, Study Says

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Bedbugs Have Favourite Colours, Study Says

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You may need to change the colours or your bed sheets and pillowcases as a recent study finds that bed bugs are drawn by certain colour types that let them populate our favourite sleeping spots.

Researchers from the University of Florida Urban Entomology Research Science Institute were able to isolate the colours that attract bedbugs and the colours that likely shoos them away.

Urban Entomology Scientist Roberto Pereira, whose study was published recently in the Journal of Medical Entomology, said that the pesky bugs find dark red and black attractive and draws them, while they stay away from bright yellow and dazzling white.

The researchers created bug-sized tents in made of paper in assorted colours in Petri dishes and placed bedbugs in them. Immediately the little critters approached the mini shelters as expected from these types of insects that spend almost all their lives hiding on cracks and dark cavities.

Most, if not all, of the bugs chose the dark red and black tents and stayed away from the light-coloured green, yellow and white mini-tents.

“We joked about buying bright yellow luggage bags as the bedbugs did not seem to particularly like them, moreso, lay eggs in them,” Pereira said.

One of the most common places where you could catch bedbugs are in hotels or transient rooms for rent where there have been numerous reports of infestations due to improper or hasty cleaning practices.

The bedbugs could even be spread around if one gets to stay in a bedbug-infested room where a bug could hitch a ride or lay eggs in your things or luggage.

Having brightly-coloured suitcases may help prevent this, however, there might be some that could find dark folds or crevices in your suitcase that they may be able to crawl in to.

Associate professor of urban entomology from the University of Arizona Dawn Gouge, although not linked to the research, said that there are better ways to get rid of bedbugs instead of just changing to new bright-coloured suitcases.

Using hard exterior suitcases would be a big help and make sure to not place travel luggage inside the bedroom or place it on top of the couch or any other fabric-covered furniture inside the house, also not stow suitcases under the bed or couch when not in use.

Another good way to monitor for any infestation is to use store-bought traps or monitors to see if your house is infested with bedbugs and although not very efficient in eliminating them, it will give you an idea if there is an infestation so you can have it addressed as early as possible.

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