Plagued by bed bugs? Scientists create gadget you will LOVE: Trap device lures blood-sucking pests to their death

Fighting bed bugs?

Well, scientists have come up with the ultimate solution: a device that lures blood-sucking pests to their deaths.

Bed bugs, which are very difficult to kill, are attracted to CO₂, a gas we exhale when we breathe.

It is for this reason that they take advantage of sleeping humans. Because we barely move when we sleep, carbon dioxide effectively forms a “cloud” around us that encourages them to bite.

Homemade killing devices, using sugar and yeast, have deployed this logic for decades.

But the new device, created by two master’s students at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, takes this to the extreme.

Called Iphigenia, after a princess from Greek mythology who was sacrificed to Artemis during the Trojan War, the oxygen tank-sized device emits CO₂.

Pictures proving it works show bed bugs being lured to their deaths, trapping them inside with nowhere to go.

Although it’s still just a prototype, its creators are optimistic that it will eventually become a reality for anyone plagued by infestations.

Iphigenia will now be tested in a bed bug infested area lab simulated it to look like a real bedroom to see how well it works.

Simon Lilja, one of the creators, said they are optimistic that the machine’s lure will be powerful enough to prevent bed bugs from venturing into adjoining rooms during any insecticide treatment.

It could even shorten treatment times, and pest control companies admit that it can take up to six weeks to completely eliminate infestations.

When insecticides are applied, infested rooms must be occupied to eliminate the bugs, which are the size of an apple seed.

It comes after horrified readers at a west London library were evacuated after bedbugs were found crawling on the furniture.

Ealing Council said it removed the library furniture for chemical treatment.

Fellow developer Maja Åstrand, who formed the company SimulAir with Lilja while they wait for patent approval for their device, which has a built-in camera, said: “You don’t have to be bait anymore.”

He was inspired to create Iphigenia by his own “traumatic” battle with bed bugs, in which he “slept as bait for eight weeks.”

Lilja added: “Our ultimate goal is to improve the machine’s attractiveness to a level that surpasses even human attractiveness.”

It comes after horrified readers at a west London library were evacuated after bedbugs were found crawling on the furniture.

Some of the furniture at Ealing Central Library had already been removed for treatment when staff spotted more pests on Monday.

Such an annoying announcement ordered all visitors to leave the building, which remained closed yesterday.

One pensioner who was evacuated said: “It was all very strange, we had never been expelled so quickly.” “Everyone who was on the computers had to leave.”

The next day a notice appeared on the door, informing the public that there was a pest infestation and that the furniture was being treated with “pest control chemicals.”

He added: ‘These chemicals will be applied while the library is closed and are safe for children and adults. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.’

Data released by pest control company Rentokil in September showed that from 2022 to 2023, the UK saw a 65 per cent increase in bed bug infestations.

Experts have warned that the rise in bed bugs could be due to increased travel following Covid lockdowns.

Bed bugs had largely disappeared from everyday life in developed countries in the 1950s, but have made a comeback in the last 30 years.

The causes include growing resistance to insecticides, increased public travel and a growing propensity to buy second-hand items.