PRESS RELEASE

Athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics are among the first users of the consumer BugScents™ Sentry product for early detection of bed bugs. This product allows athletes to rest and recover without the worry of being bitten by bed bugs and stay focused on performing at the highest level during the Games. 

Arctech Innovation, a spin-out company from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), is excited to announce the launch of BugScents™ Sentry and Sentry Pro – two new bed bug trap products powered by novel scent technology for early and rapid detection of bed bugs.

Arctech Innovation has launched two products:

• BugScents™ Sentry Pro is a professional-grade product available in a 4-pack for pest controllers. It is designed for year-long use as a monitoring solution.
• BugScents™ Sentry is a portable and reusable consumer-friendly product targeted at holidaymakers, business people staying in hotels, and people worried about bed bugs in their homes.

Arctech Innovation stated: 

"Developed through a decade of rigorous research by scientific experts at Arctech Innovation and LSHTM, these revolutionary products are inspired by nature by exploiting bed bug biology. The scientists discovered that bed bugs produce a pheromone which attracts bed bugs, and then developed a formulation to consistently release the bed bug pheromone over three months, creating an effective attractant technology.

Attracting bed bugs to a trap is difficult, but getting bed bugs to enter a trap is an even greater challenge. Many existing trap designs on the market fail because bed bugs are reluctant to enter them.

Using Arctech Innovation’s unique experience in insect behaviour and product design, a novel insect-inspired detection trap was designed which includes 60 ‘guide channels’ to guide bed bugs inside, exploiting their preference to follow an edge. Additionally, a replaceable glue insert positioned on the roof of the trap captures bed bugs sneakily on their backs, taking advantage of their aversion to step on glue with their feet. With an incredibly discreet 10mm thick profile, the trap can be placed out of sight.

"Powered by the highly-effective attractant technology, combined with a novel insect-inspired design, BugScents™ Sentry and Sentry Pro are built expertly to manipulate bed bug’s natural behaviour to capture and detect bed bugs quickly and effectively".

The BugScents™ Sentry product is available to purchase directly from bugscents.com.