Residual efficacy limitations of professional and consumer products for the management of Cimex lectularius

The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is experiencing a global resurgence due, in part, to insecticide resistance. As a result of the increased prevalence of bed bugs, there are more products than ever on the market for their management regardless of widespread resistance to the active ingredients in many of these products. Because bed bugs are cryptic in nature, it is ideal that insecticides used for their control have residual efficacy so that insects hidden from view can be killed after an initial application. In order to determine the residual effectiveness of various products, we determined the knockdown efficacy, LT50, and LT90 of thirteen ready-to-spray (RTS) liquid, foaming aerosol, and concentrate products labeled for use against C. lectularius. Both consumer and professional products were evaluated. In a preliminary experiment, we performed residual bioassays on filter paper (24-hr. after product application) to assess the maximum residual performance of each product under ideal conditions. We followed these experiments by testing the efficacy of products that were applied to a common household surface (e.g. tile) per EPA product performance guidelines. Products were also evaluated topically. Our findings indicate that it is important to combine multiple strategies for adequate management of bed bugs, as both consumer and professional products have limited residual activity, even in the most ideal application and exposure conditions.