Bed Bugs Are Inclined To Opt For Some Colors And Avoid Others: Study

Researchers experimented on various bed bugs, and found that most of them prefer red over other colors.

Experts from the University of Florida and Union College in Lincoln, Neb., made some "small, tent-like harborages from colored cardstock" and then put them in petri dishes. They placed a bug in the middle of the dish and gave it 10 minutes to opt for one of the tents.

Using these bugs in various life stages as well as various sexes, in groups as well as singly and well-fed ones contrasted with hungry ones, scientists tried to arrive at some conclusions.

"It was speculated that a bed bug would go to any harborage in an attempt to hide," wrote the authors of the latest study. "However, these color experiments show that bed bugs do not hide in just any harborage; rather, they will select a harborage based on its color when moving in the light."

Strangely, different factors seemed to dictate their color choices. Hence, the options changed with age, and they also selected different colors when they were in groups rather than alone. Their hunger or fullness too made them opt for different colors. Finally, male and female bugs seemed to choose different hues.

"We are thinking about how you can enhance bed bug traps by using monitoring tools that act as a harborage and are a specific color that is attractive to the bug," said Corraine McNeill, one of the co-authors of the new study. "However, the point isn't to use the color traps in isolation, but to use color preference as something in your toolkit to be paired with other things such as pheromones or carbon dioxide to potentially increase the number of bed bugs in a trap."

Scientists can use these findings to trap and kill bed bugs.

The findings are published in the April 2016 edition of the Journal of Medical Entomology.