What Scent Keeps Bud Bugs Away?

Over the years, scents and smells have been utilized for a variety of things. They have been used in therapies to help ease pain, they’ve been used to ease the mind, they’ve been used for relaxation, and they have been utilized for a wide range of other things. Did you know that people are now contemplating using them to repel bed bugs? It’s true, and bugs are repelled by certain scents. Peppermint, tea tree oil, and lavender all have proven effective when it comes to repelling bed bugs. Not only this but there is a wide range of over-the-counter products available that can help with repelling bed bugs. While this is interesting, it’s more important to know why specific scents and smells deter these critters. For instance, there is one over-the-counter product that is taking the pest industry storm. And, it’s a type of product that uses nymph pheromones. Nymphs are baby bed bugs and they secret these pheromones as a means of protection. Adult male bed bugs are prolific breeders. They’ll mate with anything and everything, including baby bed bugs. Unfortunately, this kills the babies in the process. And, this is why they secret this pheromone. It deters the males. Scientists have been doing studies regarding bed bugs and the efficiency of specific scents and odors on them. The United States Department of Agricultural recently did a study that returned some interesting results, but besides that, it was a group of scientists that discovered baby nymphs secrete this pheromone. They started using it in over-the-products and combining it with over essential oils to repel bed bugs. It has proven more than effective over the years, but the thing is, it only repels males. It won’t do anything to the females. When combined with other essential oils it might have some effect on the females, but alone this pheromone will do nothing to the females. The above-mentioned study also discovered that specific essentials affect the bug’s body. That’s how they work. While this might be the case, some essential oils have proven more effective than others. Blood orange, paraffin oil, silicone oil, and spearmint oil have proven to be the most effective of the essential oils available today. Another thing to remember is, bed bugs have grown resistant to some of the pesticides that previously killed them off. Scientists are unsure if this has some to do with the bug’s genetic make-up or repeated exposure, but the result is the same. The products aren’t effective as they used to be, and this is part of what prompted these new studies and searches.