Characterizing Repellencies of Methyl Benzoate and Its Analogs against the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The resistance of bed bugs to many of the marketed insecticides has contributed to the recent resurgence in bed bug infestations. This study tests methyl benzoate and several of its analogs for repellency against the bed bug species, Cimex lectularius. It was found that many benzoate compounds exhibit repellency against bed bugs, with naturally occurring volatile aroma compounds methyl 2-methoxybenzoate (M2MOB) and methyl 3-methoxybenzoate (M3MOB), exhibiting the longest-lasting repellency against both insecticide susceptible and pyrethroid resistant strains of bed bug. ABSTRACT: Bed bug infestations are on the rise globally, and remediation efforts are becoming more expensive and difficult to achieve due to rising insecticide resistance in the pest populations. This study evaluates Cimex lectularius behavior in the presence of attractive elements—aggregation pheromone or food source (human blood)—and the reported botanical repellent methyl benzoate (MB), several MB analogs, as well as the well-known insect repellent, N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). Utilizing EthoVision, a video tracking system, we now report that MB and several of its analogs exhibit strong spatial repellency against C. lectularius, with methyl 2-methoxybenzoate (M2MOB) and methyl 3-methoxybenzoate (M3MOB) exhibiting the strongest repellent effects. Further, our data showed that MB, M2MOB, M3MOB, and DEET exhibit repellency against a pyrethroid resistant strain of C. lectularius.