Researchers from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have created a relatively simple yet effective bedbug trap. The trap can be constructed with household items.

Phil Koehler, UF/IFAS urban entomology professor, explains that the trap can be made with two disposable plastic containers, glue and masking tape.

The traps help to catch and collect the bedbugs as they attempt to travel from people and places where the bedbugs typically hide, Koehler said.

He said in a statement, “This concept of trapping works for places where people sleep and need to be protected at those locations.”

The traps count on the insect’s difficulty climbing on smooth surfaces, according to Koehler. Instead, the traps contain rough areas that enable the bedbugs to enter easily. There is a smooth-surfaced moat to keep them from escaping.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bed bugs are small, flat parasitic insects that primarily feed on the blood of humans and animals as they sleep. The insects are found throughout the globe and are found in five-star hotels and resorts as well as regular households, indicating that their presence is not determined by how clean the living conditions are where they are found.