Almost everybody has noticed that using the same insecticide for a long time doesn’t actually work on Bed bugs or another pest. Those bed bugs actually generate an insecticide resistant mechanism in their body. Scientists have found an another process that can demolish their anti-insecticide mechanism.
A group of researcher from Pennsylvania State University(Penn State) and North Carolina State universities has created a fungal biopesticide that is not only effective against bed bug populations but also lethal for insecticide resistant mechanism. In recent years, scientists from Penn State developed a new mycoinsecticide named, Aprehend that will provide an important new tool for managing bed-bug infestations.
Senior research entomologist Dr. Nina Jenkins from College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State wrote in the journal of Pest Management Science,“Bed bugs were all but eradicated from the United States and other industrialized nations after World War II, likely due to the use of DDT and other broad-spectrum insecticides. But, in the last few decades, they have re-emerged globally as an important public-health pest”. Peoples often use pyrethroid insecticides to control bed bug, but the study suggests bed bug developed resistance. They have also generated cross-resistance to withstand other pesticides.
According to Science Daily, people spend over $500 to $1,000 per room to get rid of bed bugs but It’s still not effective. To find the cheapest alternative, Jenkins and colleagues at Penn State collected entomopathogenic fungi named, Beauveria Bassiana. It is a natural fungus which can cause disease in insects.
Researchers developed Aprehend from the fungus which can be applied as a long-lasting barrier treatment. Jenkins applied the mycoinsecticide to a quilt fabric that is the most targeted place of bed bugs and the result was astonishing. Researchers recorded up to 95 percent of mortality rate within a week and within 14 days the rate hiked up to 99 percent.
However, the mortality rate of resistant bed bugs only achieved from 16 percent to 40 percent after 14 days of exposure. But, scientists are still trying to wipe all the trace of bed bugs so that everybody can sleep better.
