Penn State Researchers Seek EPA Approval for Bed Bug Products

UNIVERSITY PARK — A group of Penn State entomologists working on a bio-pesticide for locusts and houseflies has found its product also works on bed bugs, the Centre Daily Times reports.

According to the article, Nina Jenkins, senior research associate in entomology, has been working with pathogenic fungi that cause a disease in insects. When her team was asked to try the fungi on bed bugs, the results were surprising, she said.

“We sprayed a surface with the fungal formulation and allowed the bedbugs to walk on the surface and then monitored them to see if they would die,” Jenkins said.
The process worked on the first try. The spores of the fungi stick to the cuticles of bedbugs and penetrate through their bodies, eventually killing them, Jenkins said. It took six days for the bedbugs to die. Normally, with mosquitoes and grasshoppers it takes seven to 10 days for the fungi to take effect.

Now, the pesticide is in the process of being registered with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. If approved, it will be on the market for licensed pesticide distributors.

Click here to read more.

Source: Centre Daily Times