Aprehend® is an insecticide specifically developed to control bed bugs. The active ingredient, formulation and recommended application equipment have all been designed around understanding bed bug behaviour.
Aprehend is powered by the active ingredient Beauveria bassiana. An insect-specific killing fungus, Beauveria bassiana is a naturally occurring microbe. Formulated within Aprehend as dormant spores, once applied the fungi site on the sprayed surface waiting for a bed bug to come into contact with them. When contact is made with a bed bug, the fungal spores stick to the insect and naturally activate. Once stuck to the outside of the insect the Beauveria grows into the bed bug killing it.
Aprehend® offers a new active ingredient and a novel mode of action for the control of bed bugs.
The problem
Bed bugs are becoming an increasing problem in the UK and responsible for an increasing amount of work for pest controllers. This increasing prevalence is due to increasing amounts of human movement helping to transport the pest around, our warmer climate and housing creating a better environment for the bed bugs to thrive and resistance to chemical insecticide treatments. Bed bugs pose numerous problems for professional pest controllers:
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Resistance to currently available chemical treatments
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Minimal product residual effect and risk of reinfestation after successful treatment
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High cost of return visits to achieve eradication from a site
Because of their cryptic behaviour and ability to fit into the smallest of cracks, direct treatment of bed bugs is difficult. Bed Bug insecticides therefore tend to be applied to surfaces where bed bugs are expected to be active and then wait for the bed bug to cross the treated surface, come into contact with the treatment, and pick up enough of the active to cause mortality. A critical feature of the success of this treatment strategy for any product is therefore:
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How long does the treatment remain viable on the treated surface
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How much contact time is required allow the bed bug to take up a lethal dose from the treated surface
The ideal features of a bed bug control insecticide are environmental persistence and use around humans. With a target pest which is active irregularly, persistence is required to ensure that the insecticide treatment is working when the bed bug comes into contact with it. A high level of environmental persistence can however cause regulatory issues around environmental risk. Many of the most potent chemical insecticides have now been withdrawn on health or environmental grounds. Of those which remain, resistance of the pest insect to the chemical is increasing.
The challenge of pest resistance is further exacerbated by fewer active ingredients and modes of action options available for pest controllers to rotate between. This results in bed bugs being constantly exposed to the same actives and modes of action so accelerating resistance development. Aprehend offers an opportunity to change this with its biological fungal spores not only being a new active substance, but also having a very different IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee) classification of its mode of action.
The solution
The novel mode of action (demonstrated by its IRAC classification) of Aprehend makes it an ideal tool for managing not only chemical susceptible bed bug populations, but also those with tolerance or resistance to chemical insecticides.
The persistence of Aprehend provides prolonged activity. Product performance to support professional pest controllers and designed around an understanding of bed bug behaviour from the team who developed the technology:
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Bed bug behaviour such as not being active when a room is unoccupied
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The pest insects not being active for several days between feeds
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Mobility of the pest meaning it can move between rooms and without post-application persistence can easily re-infest a room soon after successful, but short persistence, chemical treatment
Up to three months residual activity providing continuous protection makes Aprehend ideal for bed bug control in a number of industries:
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Hotels on annual maintenance contracts – reapplied every 3 months
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High occupant turnover small hotels – short turnaround and room reuse for flexible treatments between check out/check in
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Cruise ships where boats are away from maintenance hubs for prolonged periods of time
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Public transport. Preventative treatments can fit in with rolling stock maintenance and cleaning programmes
How Aprehend is used
Originally developed in the USA where it has already been registered. Professional pest controllers across USA and Canada already have experience of how Aprehend can be used to control bed bugs.
Aprehend is applied as a narrow band spray to the surface of beds and furniture, the aim being bed bugs travel across the band so coming into contact with the residual insecticide. The low volume oil formulation is quick drying allowing rooms to be treated within minutes.
The low volume colourless oil application is quick drying and is suitable for use on a wide range of fixtures and furniture fabrics including varnished headboards, metal bed frames, carpet, painted wood skirting boards and fabric covered divan bed bases.
Aprehend is an insecticide for use only by professionally qualified pest controllers. If you are a homeowner or business wanting bed bug control, ask your pest controller about Aprehend. If you are a professional pest control company contact Andermatt (contact@andermattuk.com) for more information. Aprehend is not yet approved for use in the UK. Andermatt are currently gathering industry support letters as part of our registration package to demonstrate market need to the authorities. If you are interested in supporting this, please email contact@andermattuk.com
How to apply Aprehend to control bed bugs
A contact acting insecticide, the aim of an Aprehend application is to create a barrier over which the bed bugs must cross. Crossing the barrier forces bed bugs into contact with the fungal spores. Aprehend is applied as a barrier line, complete coverage of the bed or furniture is not required.
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Ensure area is clean to help Aprehend stick to treatment surface
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Shake the bottle of Aprehend to ensure spores are well suspended after storage
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Spray strategically in narrow bands where bed bugs are known to walk (including completely around bed frame, bed feet, headboard, skirting board, other furniture)
Every treatment situation is different, therefore site observations on bed bug activity as well as the pest controllers experience are important to identify areas in the room to be treated.
How Aprehend works:
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Bed bugs cross the treated surface picking up the fungal spores.
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Unaware it is carrying the spores, the bed bug returns to its harbourage.
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Any other bed bugs sharing the harbourage that come into contact with the original carrier bed bug may have some of the spores transferred to themselves.
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Depending on the environment, the spores germinate in approximately 20 hours killing the bed bug within 4 to 10 days.
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The delay between pickup and death is an advantage as it helps bed bugs transfer spores to other individuals sharing the same harbourages, rather than having to wait for them to actively feed.
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Following application, Aprehend remains effective on the treated surface for up to three months.
Chemical insecticide treatments against bed bugs tend to be contact acting. For these a certain amount of contact time is required between the bed bug and the treated surface to allow the pest insect to absorb and take up the chemical. Whilst Aprehend is a contact acting insecticide against bed bugs, minimal contact time is required. The only contact time required is enough to allow the fungal spore to stick to the bed bug, the lethal action of the fungi can then happen over the following hours and days.
Why use Aprehend as a preventative bed bug treatment?
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Prevent establishment of populations after initial accidental introduction to a room.
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Prevent reinfestation of a treated room from separately managed adjacent infested rooms in multioccupancy buildings.
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Gain control in single owned multioccupancy building.
Why is a specific sprayer required for application of Aprehend?
When working with biologicals, misapplication is the most common reason for lower than expected performance. The recommended sprayer is designed to apply provide optimum Aprehend application:
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Maintains spore viability when passing through the sprayer and nozzle
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Optimal spray droplet size to both carry fungal spores and provide even deposits on treated surface.
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Discharge the correct volume for easy treatment as the spray technician is moving around a bed.
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Apply the specific barrier width.
Will Aprehend work against chemical insecticide resistant bed bugs?
Yes.
Tolerance to chemical insecticides has no impact on the efficacy of Aprehend.
What is IRAC?
IRAC is the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee. An industry backed organisation which aims to prolong the effectiveness of insecticides in public health.
What IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee) Mode of Action Classification does Beauveria bassiana, the active ingredient in Aprehend, belong to?
UNF. Unknown Fungal agents.
Will Aprehend give instant control of bed bugs?
No. A common misconception of the product and how it works. Because of the way Aprehend works, it does not have instant kill after contact with the bed bug. Firstly the bed bug has to come into contact with the spores by crossing the spray applied barrier. Therefore some of the bed bugs are required to have one night of activity, although this is not the case for all bed bugs to be active as there will be some transfer of lethal spores between bed bugs sharing harbourages. Secondly, after attaching to a bed bugs cuticle, the fungal spores need time to germinate, grow and kill the infected bed bug. How quickly this occurs will be affected by a number of factors including temperature.
What affects how quickly Aprehend kills bed bugs?
The active ingredient in Aprehend is a natural fungus Beaueria bassiana. Because bed bug mortality is a result of a natural process (Beaueria bassiana growing), the speed at which this happens is affected by the surrounding environment. The rate of bed bug mortality is dependent on the number of spores picked up (dose), size of the bed bug and the environment (temperature for example affects the speed the spores germinate and penetrate the bed bug).
Is Aprehend available for home-owners to buy and use?
No. Aprehend is an insecticide only for use by professional pest controllers.
If you are a home owner wanting a treatment for bed bugs, you can however talk to your pest controller and specifically ask them to use Aprehend.
I am a pest controller, what certifications do I require to permit me to apply Aprehend for my clients?
Use of Aprehend is treated in exactly the same way as a chemical bed bug insecticide treatment is. Therefore the same training certification which permits you to use chemicals, is also valid for buying, storing and using Aprehend biological insecticide.