Nothing like some bug squeezings to promote a good night's sleep. (©iStockphoto.com/ArtbyAllyson)

Indeed, what better way to ward off pesky bed bugs than to crush them up and coat yourself in their juices? It may sound like a tactic from a Guillermo del Toro film (seriously, he’s used this in at least two separate movies — the man loves his bug goo), but according to Discovery Channel News, it’s actually the basis of a new tactic from entomologists at Ohio State University.

When bed bugs panic, they release alarm pheromones, which spreads the panic and leads to a great deal of scurrying around. Of course, we don’t just want to freak bed bugs out. We want to kill them, right? That’s why the researchers mixed synthetic alarm pheromones with desiccant dust, a pesticide that kills by drying the insect up. When the bed bugs panic, they run through the deadly dust.

Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to eradicate and, with their global numbers on the rise, it’s nice to know we’re coming up with new ways to tackle the problem. Prepare to wig out and die, bloodsuckers.

Choose sides in the human/insect wars at HowStuffWorks.com:
Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite
U.S. Declares War on Bed Bugs
Verminators: Bed Bugs Bite (video)
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