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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — In a national survey, homeowners ranked Florida as the state with the worst bug infestation problems — including ants, termites and cockroaches. Louisiana and Texas were runners-up.

Bugs clearly are widespread across America: A whopping 90 percent of homeowners said they have experienced an insect infestation, according to the recent telephone survey, conducted by Infogroup | ORC, sponsored by BASF Pest Control Solutions.

When it comes to bed bugs, respondents agreed New York has the worst problem. California and Florida were first and second runners-up for bed bugs, respectively.

Ant infestation was rated the most common insect annoyance by homeowners interviewed. Nearly 60 percent of those questioned said ants were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to infest their homes. In contrast, about a quarter (27 percent) of respondents said they were “likely” to suffer from a termite infestation.

Sales of insecticides also validate homeowners’ beliefs about the “overall buggiest states.” Researchers compared the survey results with sales of Termidor termiticide/insecticide along with sales of over-the-counter products containing permethrin, a major ingredient in many insecticides sold at home-improvement and hardware stores.

Here are the top 10 overall buggiest states, as ranked by homeowners and confirmed by product sales data

1. Florida
2. Louisiana
3. Texas
4. California
5. Georgia
6. New York
7. Mississippi
8. Alabama
9. Missouri
10. South Carolina

The survey also provided insight on the debate over “doing it yourself” versus calling a professional. Among the 90 percent of homeowners who have had a bug infestation, 63 percent of them tried to treat it themselves and only 23 percent called a professional right away. Forty-percent of those who tried to treat it themselves had to call in a professional anyway and 86 percent of those who called a professional reported success.

But as VPR’s Nina Keck reports the tiny pests are making a big comeback.

(Keck) Who can forget the old nursery rhyme - Good Night, Sleep Tight – don’t let the bed bugs bite? Unfortunately, they are biting – all over Vermont and the rest of the country. Jon Turmel is Vermont’s state entomologist.

(Turmel)  “I’ve been at it 35 years and we would get one or two bed bugs every three or four years – we’d never see them.  As it is now, I’m getting anywhere from 2 to 6 calls a week.”

(Keck) Turmel says cleanliness has no bearing on where bedbugs show up. Five star hotels are just as likely to have them, he says, as a crowded city apartment.

Missy Henriksen, of the National Pest Management Association in Virginia, says in the last three years, reports of infestations are up 71 percent and include all 50 states.

(Henriksen)  “From suburban areas, rural areas large cities – there really is no area that has been spared, unfortunately.”

(Keck) Experts believe the recent increase in bed bugs may be due to the fact that powerful pesticides like DDT are no longer used.

People are also traveling more than ever before and the tiny bugs often hitchhike to new locations hidden in people’s luggage.

(Henriksen) “Bedbugs are very difficult to find and they can hide for up to a year without a meal – their meal is a human blood meal – so they can lay in wait – reproducing during that hidden life cycle and the female can reproduce 400 offspring.”

(Keck) John Turmel says bedbugs don’t spread any dangerous diseases. But he says the psychological trauma of getting bitten repeatedly while you sleep can be terrible.

So he says it’s best to call a qualified exterminator right away. It’s much better advice, he says than the old nursery rhyme.

Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Detector

From December 18, 2009 Science News, by Susan Milius

After trying some 50 arrangements of household objects, researchers have come up with a new, homemade bed bug detector.

Wan-Tien Tsai of Rutgers University worked with Changlu Wang, also at Rutgers, for six months on designing homemade devices that lured bed bugs out into a trap so residents can tell whether a home is infested.  Like many insects that search for blood, bed bugs are attracted to plumes of concentrated carbon dioxide, good clues that an animal filled with liquid dinner is breathing somewhere nearby.  In lab tests, carbon dioxide beat heat and several chemical attractants in drawing the bugs out of hiding.

Visit us at: http://www.ant-ser.com/home.php  for several bed bug products.

Well I appreciate you listening.

Have A Great Day,

Jeff Ahrens, A.C.E.

The Bed Bug Hub: One-Stop Shop for Bed Bug Information

There’s no doubt about it: bed bugs are back! And understandably, the recent rise in the bed bug population has many people concerned. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held its first ever Bed Bug Summit on the increasing problem in 2009.

 In response to the need for a central online location for bed bug information, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) has created the Bed Bug Hub – your resource on everything bed bug related, from prevention tips to current news.

Bed Bug Frequently Asked Questions

1. Has there really been resurgence in bedbugs in the U.S. and how do you know?
There HAS been an increase in bedbug infestations. Our member pest control companies who received 1 or 2 bedbug calls a year are now reporting 1 to 2 each week.

2. Where have you been finding the bedbugs?
These pests are not limited to any one specific type of dwelling. Pest control companies have been reporting the infestations in multi-family housing, apartments, hotels and even hospitals.

3. What states have been affected?
Pest control companies have reported bed bug activity on a national scale. Bedbugs are being found from the East to the West Coast; and everywhere in between.

4. Why are bedbugs so hard to treat?
Bedbegs should not be equated with filth or sanitation problems — in hotels or in homes, for that matter. Bedbugs are very elusive, transient and nocturnal pests. They are often found in other areas besides the bed. And they are hardy. They can live for a year or more without eating and can withstand a wide range of temperatures from nearly freezing to almost 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Bedbugs can be controlled with vigilance and constant inspection and treatment by professional pest control companies.

5. What can a consumer do to protect themselves from bedbug infestations?
To prevent bedbug infestations, consumers need to be vigilant in assessing their surroundings. When returning from a trip, check your luggage and clothing. If you think you may have a bed bug infestation, contact a pest control professional. This is not a pest that can be controlled with do-it-yourself measures.

6. Why are bedbugs an issue for hotels, visitors, and homeowners?
Bedbugs leave itchy, bloody welts on human skin. Adult bed bugs can live for a year without eating, making them especially hard to control. Once inside a hotel or home, bed bugs spread rapidly from room to room – through pipes, in vacuum cleaners, on clothing and luggage. In a hotel, bed bugs can even spread to neighboring rooms, since guests are may end up moving to another room.

7. Are bedbugs just in beds?
Bedbugs are not just in beds. They can be in chair cushions, sofas, behind electrical outlets, cracks and crevices around baseboards, or even behind picture frames. In other words, they can be live pretty much anywhere

8. How does one control bedbugs?
Any effective bedbug control strategy should start with a careful, thorough inspection by a pest control professional of all known and suspected spots where the bugs may be harboring. This is not a pest that can be controlled effectively with do-it-yourself measures. As they are discovered, the pest control professional will develop a treatment and control strategy with the customer depending on the extent of the infestation.

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – University of Florida

UF researchers turn up the heat on bedbugs with new low-tech treatment method

July 7, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Entomology and Nematology, Household Pests, New Technology, Pests, Safety

 Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.

Multimedia available: http://news.ufl.edu/2009/07/07/bed-bugs-multimedia/

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Bedbug infestations are notoriously hard to eliminate, but University of Florida researchers have developed a low-cost, low-tech method to kill the bloodsucking insects in furniture and bedding, using heat.

The survey also found that the majority (70 percent) of homeowners are concerned about the safety of pest control products and want to handle insect invasions in a manner that poses no threats to themselves, their family or pets. The good news is that consumers don’t have to choose between pests and pesticides they go to www.ant-ser.com for do it yourself products. Today’s pest control options provide homeowners with effective pest management in and around their homes with low impact on their families, pets and the environment.  www.ant-ser.com has products such as Talstar, Advion, Demon and rodent baits.

Please follow this link to see the results from a Dupont survey.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Dupont-1006246.html