Do Uv Lights Kill Bed Bugs

The light bulb and the wires are housed in a protective plastic or grounded metal cage.

Do uv lights kill bed bugs.

When a bed bug infestation occurs or is suspected homeowners immediately start looking for ways to kill the bugs. Bug zappers despite many improvements in safety and insect luring potential are basically the same as they were when first invented. Ultraviolet light doesn t kill bed bugs and neither does ordinary light. The main reason for this is that male mosquitoes usually feed on nectar from flowers.

All of us know that bed bugs are keen on darkness and eager to avoid light at all costs but there is no evidence that light can kill the bed bugs. The bug completes the circuit and gets electrocuted. An ultraviolet emitting light bulb attracts insects into a high voltage electrical wire mesh grid where the bugs are electrocuted. Because of the irresistible lure of their light.

There was a recent study that showed that c02 is the most effective attractant for bedbugs. Bug zappers work by emitting a uv light that attracts bugs to the center of the device where they re electrocuted usually between two metal grids. Uv light makes bed bugs more visible. The flower pattern that attracts them is revealed in uv light.

The main reason is heat generation. The first link below tells you how to build an effective bedbug trap using dry ice. You can even kill bugs with uv light although it isn t an effective treatment. There are passive means of detecting bed bugs which are easier and work better than manually searching.

Ultraviolet light and light of any kind doesn t kill the bed bugs but it does aid in identifying the problem. They usually scurry away from light. Ultraviolet light does kill insects as well and it s commonly used in quarantine labs to keep potentially dangerous insects from escaping into the environment. Although uv light can be a beneficial tool in both repelling and detecting bed bugs you have to know that light in and off itself will not kill them.

I don t think uv light would work for attracting them though it might detect their excrement. But even if uv light does make bed bugs glow it isn t necessarily an effective strategy. When the insects notice the patterns revealed on the uv light they enter in the space between the mesh grids. According its description the purelight xd ultraviolet light wand features the most powerful 8 watt uv light on the market and guarantees a 99 9 kill rate of bacteria viruses including dust.

They use ultraviolet light or neon or mercury lighting which insects seem to be drawn to.