Bed bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) attraction to pitfall traps baited with carbon dioxide, heat, and chemical lure

Carbon dioxide (CO2), heat, and chemical lure (1-octen-3-ol and L-lactic acid) were tested as attractants for bed bugs, Cimex lectularius L. (Heteroptera: Cimicidae), by using pitfall traps. Both CO2 and heat were attractive to bed bugs. CO2 was significantly more attractive to bed bugs than heat. Traps baited with chemical lure attracted more bed bugs but at a statistically nonsignificant level. In small arena studies (56 by 44 cm), pitfall traps baited with CO2 or heat trapped 79.8 +/- 6.7 and 51.6 +/- 0.9% (mean +/- SEM) of the bed bugs after 6 h, respectively. Traps baited with CO2 + heat, CO, + chemical lure, or CO2 + heat + chemical lure captured > or = 86.7% of the bed bugs after 6 h, indicating baited pitfall traps were highly effective in attracting and capturing bed bugs from a short distance. In 3.1- by 1.8-m environmental chambers, a pitfall trap baited with CO, + heat + chemical lure trapped 57.3 +/- 6.4% of the bed bugs overnight. The pitfall trap was further tested in four bed bug-infested apartments to determine its efficacy in detecting light bed bug infestations. Visual inspections found an average of 12.0 +/- 5.4 bed bugs per apartment. The bed bugs that were found by visual inspections were hand-removed during inspections. A pitfall trap baited with CO2 and chemical lure was subsequently placed in each apartment with an average of 15.0 +/- 6.4 bed bugs collected per trap by the next morning. We conclude that baited pitfall traps are potentially effective tools for evaluating bed bug control programs and detecting early bed bug infestations.