Ultrasonic bedbug repellers are used as a reliable substitute for a variety of toxic liquids, which not so long ago had no alternative. These devices eliminate pest problems using ultrasound alone and therefore do not harm humans. After reading this article, the reader will know if ultrasound helps against bed bugs and other harmful insects.
Bedbugs: getting to know the pest
The main difference between bed bugs and other insects is their oral cavity. The mouth of almost all insects is tripled so that the animal can bite, while the bug is not capable of biting anything. Its mouthparts can only suck. Bedbugs feed by sucking fluids from plants, but in most cases, bedbugs feed on blood.
The sucking part of the bug's mouth is called the proboscis and is significantly different in appearance from the mouth of other insects. This can be easily seen under a microscope. The mouth of bedbugs is more like a long beak and is used by insects in much the same way as humansuses a straw when drinking milk or juice.
If you look closely at insects that, like bedbugs, have a proboscis, then almost every one of them has it removed. Insects such as a butterfly or a bee can retract their proboscis while moving from one food source to another. Bed bugs have much more rigid mouthparts that cannot be rolled up. But there is a plus in this. Due to this rigidity, bugs are able to break through harder obstacles than plant leaves while searching for food.
Magnitude of the problem
One of the most important human misconceptions about bedbugs is that the vast majority of people believe that bedbugs live on the object of their parasitism. In fact, this is far from the case.
Bugs do not live on a dog or cat, they live where the object of parasitism most often appears. And, alas, this is usually the home of the owners of the animal. Bed bugs live and breed in tiny cracks in floors or carpets. With an average insect size of 1.5-2 millimeters, entire colonies of tiny bugs can live next to people for decades. At the same time, people will never see them anywhere, except in the fur of their pet.
Bugs don't live on animal fur, they jump on him from time to time to drink his blood. And one more very important point - if you look at the animal's hair, it may seem that there are not so many bugs, but you need to understand that these are far from all insects! This is only a tiny part of them, and all the rest are jumping around the house in search of food.
What ifbedbugs declared war on you?
Bugs almost never attack humans. An exception may be cases when there was an animal in the house for a certain time, the presence of which created an opportunity for the life and reproduction of bedbugs. Then this pet disappeared from the house, and the bugs had no food left. In such a situation, they will have no choice but to find a new source of life support, and the bug will attack the person.
They will jump on their feet, bite and run away long before a person starts to feel itchy on the skin. In such situations, socks and trousers will not help. These microscopic parasites will crawl through any tissue in search of food.
If this has already happened, it's too late to bring a new cat into the house so that they start eating it. They will now only bite humans. It is pointless to hope to starve them out of the apartment for a few days. Experiments on bedbugs have shown that these parasites can live absolutely without food from two to eighteen months. And if this problem seems ridiculous to someone, then he simply does not understand how tenacious these creatures are, and how incredibly difficult it is to get rid of them. If you do everything right, you can get rid of bedbugs with ultrasound. Is this really the case and we will try to find out.
Are bedbugs afraid of ultrasound?
According to data obtained from real experiments, almost all animals react to ultrasound and avoid it by all available means. Each of them has its own threshold of sensitivity. Ultrasonic power is measured in kilohertz.
- Smallmammals such as dogs and cats respond to the 22-25 kHz range.
- Rats and other rodents have a sensitivity threshold of 60-72 kHz.
- Bugs, fleas, spiders, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies and other small flying insects respond to 38-44 kHz readings.
- Lizards are exposed to ultrasound at 52-60 kHz.
So if anyone has a question about whether ultrasound helps with bed bugs, the answer is, of course, yes. The only question that remains open is the power of the ultrasound source. If it's above 38kHz, bedbugs won't stand a chance.
What is ultrasound
Hearing range in humans is limited. The human ear can perceive sound in the frequency range from 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz. Sound purity below 20 hertz is a subtone sound or infrasound, and more than 20 kilohertz is ultrasonic.
Man is not sensitive to such waves because his eardrum cannot vibrate as fast as ultrasound. Sound above 20 kHz is at a very high frequency, so its waves are much more powerful than usual in terms of impact on objects.
Animals and ultrasound
Despite the fact that the human ear is not affected by ultrasound, many animals can both hear and produce it. Many rodents, small mammals, insects, and bed bugs use ultrasound as a means of communication.
Bug have super sensitive organs of hearing and therefore can perceive incredibly high frequencies. Cockroaches have "sensory antennae" thatused to feel ultrasound. Spiders, wasps, beetles, and flies have a tympanic membrane to detect ultrasound. Male mosquitoes use these frequencies to attract females. Lizards also have the ability to perceive ultrasonic vibrations.
Effect of high frequencies on bedbugs
How do ultrasonic bed bug repellers affect their body? Bed bugs have ultrasonic sensors, and when frequencies of 38-44 kHz or higher are emitted by the repeller and reach these sensors, the bug begins to feel fear, confusion. The animal becomes completely disoriented, it feels a sharp pain, and in the first seconds it does not understand in which direction the source is and where to run.
Ultrasound creates the strongest stress in the animal's nervous system. It completely suppresses his own ability to produce ultrasound. Exposure to such a high frequency can briefly numb the animal, after which it identifies the source and tries to move away from it as quickly as possible.
Ultrasound creates a strong pressure on the eardrum of bedbugs, and therefore the insects run away. Does ultrasound help kill bed bugs? No. Ultrasound cannot kill an insect, but at the same time it creates such impossible conditions for the parasite that the latter has no other choice but to flee from the impact zone.
Does ultrasound pass through walls?
No. Ultrasound will not pass through walls in the same way that normal sound waves do. The main difference between a wave with indicators above 20 kHz fromof sound below this frequency is that normal sound passes through objects, while ultrasound flows around obstacles but does not penetrate them.
Interesting facts about ultrasound and mosquitoes
Male mosquitoes are natural enemies of females of their species after breeding. Few people know that in fact, both males and females do not use human blood as food, but plant sap. The mosquito became the worst enemy of man due to the fact that females need protein from human blood for the maturation of eggs. Males never bite people, only females do this, and only after mating. This gives them the opportunity to obtain blood, which is vital for raising offspring.
And there is another interesting feature. Females and males are at enmity with each other, more or less tolerable relations between them are possible only at the time of mating. And therefore, after breeding, females avoid males as best they can. The most important way to determine their presence is the 38 kHz ultrasound that males emit through their antennae. Working at this frequency, the ultrasonic repeller imitates the presence of a male for females, so they fly away.
Smartphone from bedbugs
Can a mobile app replace a full-fledged ultrasonic bed bug repeller? Is it true that an ordinary smartphone can help in the fight against mosquitoes or bedbugs? In phone app stores, you can find many different programs for mobile devices that promise to effectively get rid of bed bugs with ultrasound. Many scientists are very skeptical about suchstatement.
Renowned entomologist Bart Knoles once experimented with a smartphone app to see if ultrasound worked on bed bugs. He downloaded it to his iPhone, turned it on at full power and put it in a box full of bed bugs. Either the insects showed a truly spartan character and did not allow themselves to be broken, or the phone application turned out to be a simple trick, but the bugs showed absolutely no reaction.
Electromagnetic waves in the fight against bedbugs
There are many affordable bedbug repellers on sale that use two methods at once to control pests: ultrasound and electromagnetic waves. Manufacturers claim that their devices are more effective. University of Colorado scientists conducted a study with devices that combined ultrasound and electromagnetic waves. The results showed that the effect of such devices is indeed stronger than the action against bugs of ultrasound without magnetic waves.
Many people believe that it is very difficult to avoid the harmful effects of various dangerous chemicals in our time. However, the impact of these can be significantly minimized through the use of modern technologies. Of course, chemical repellents are much more effective than conventional ultrasonic bed bug repellers. But if high-frequency sound is used in combination with electromagnetic waves, such a device is almost as effective as repellents. But in terms of the impact on the he alth of the user himself, the difference is huge.
Is it safe for humans?
Ultrasonic repellers are widely used in homes, gardens and farms to successfully deal with bed bugs. Commercial instruments are designed to operate in the 20 kHz to 100 kHz range. Ultrasound above 20 kHz cannot be heard by adults, but children can hear sounds up to 30 kHz.
In almost every home there are a lot of devices that emit ultrasound. A mobile phone, a computer, a vacuum cleaner are a source of such a signal, but do not cause any harm to human he alth. Ultrasound is considered the safest way to examine pregnant women, it is on this technology that the ultrasound machine works. Ultrasound is also used in the echocardiogram of the heart. According to scientists, high frequencies cannot harm human he alth.
Most Popular Ultrasonic Repellers & Prices:
Thermacell Outdoor Electronic Repellent. Price: 1,600 rubles
Thermacell Insect Repelling Lantern. Price: RUB 1,340
Pest Reject Ultrasonic Bug Repellent. Price: 2,680 rubles
Home Sentinel Electromagnetic, Ionic & Ultrasonic Insect Repellent. Price: 800 rubles
SOARING Ultrasonic Bug Repellent. Price: RUB 1,270
Clip-on Bug Repellent Fan, 2 Packs. Price: 1,000 rubles
Additional safety tips
Ultrasound is completely safe for humans, which has been repeatedly confirmed by multiple scientific studies. But still, a signal ranging from 20 kHz to 30 kHz can be heard by children. Therefore, it is better not to use these devices near babies under 5 years old. This will not harm the child, but he will obviously be annoyed by such a sound. If we are talking about a very small child, then he will not even be able to explain the reason for his discomfort.
Ultrasound from bedbugs. Usage feedback
Let's see what those who have already used such devices say. The vast majority of reviews on the use of ultrasonic bed bug repellers are positive. If you purchase a serviceable device and operate it correctly, you can forget about the problem of bedbugs. After reviewing the reviews on the use of ultrasound from bedbugs, we can conclude that most repellers do not show the best result for the following reasons:
- Inverter output power. If it is too low, the effort will have no effect. Although 38-44 kHz is sufficient for bedbugs, it is best to set the device to maximum.
- Direction and angle of sound capture. Typically, ultrasound propagates at an angle of 45 degrees from the source. If there is an obstacle on the way, the waves will not pass through it, but will flow around the object. This may reduce efficiency due to reduced coverage area.
- Quantitybedbugs. If the parasite population is too large, one device may not be enough. Also of great importance is how far they are from the repeller. In most cases, judging by the reviews, one device is enough to get rid of bedbugs with ultrasound.
- The ability of bedbugs to adapt to ultrasound. In the first days of use, the device will act on everyone without exception, but over time, some of them may adapt to the irritant.
