#1 A Recent Scientific Study From The University Of Florida Discovered This About Bed Bugs
If you've never had a bed bug infestation, count yourself extremely lucky. The critters are becoming increasingly resistant to insecticides and as a result, causing so much more havoc, meaning entire carpets, beds and couches have to be thrown away.
This year, researchers may have stumbled on a potential way to prevent infestations occurring in the first place by studying the bugs' preferences for different colours.
#2 The Results
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Florida and Union College in Lincoln. A bed bug was placed in the middle of a Petri dish and given ten minutes to choose one of the coloured shelters.
A few variations of the test were also conducted, such as testing bed bugs in different life stages, of different sexes, individual bugs versus groups of bugs, and fed bugs versus hungry bugs.
The results showed the bed bugs strongly preferred red and black, and they seemed to avoid colours like green and yellow.
#3 Why Do They Prefer These Colors?
These experiments show bed bugs will select a harbourage based on its colour when moving in the light.
‘We originally thought the bed bugs might prefer red because blood is red and that's what they feed on,' said Dr Corraine McNeill, one of the co-authors.
#4 Will You Be Changing Your Sheets?
In light of these results, people might be tempted to throw out their red and black sheets in place of yellow and green ones. Will YOU be changing your sheets?
#5 Research Is Still In Progress
Although the thought of this may give you a bit of an itch, Dr McNeil told our source: ‘I don't know how far I would go to say don't get a red suitcase or red sheets, but the research hasn't been done yet, so we can't really rule that out completely.'
