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Electronic Pest Control
- It would be great if they worked, but they don't -
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Summary: Various devices on the market claim to repel bugs and rodents with ultrasonic or electromagnetic energy. These devices have repeatedly failed to do what they claim to do in scientific trials.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What are electronic pest control devices?
 Electronic pest control devices come in several types. Some claim to repel pest insects, spiders, and rodents by ultrasonic, or very high pitched, sound. Others claim to produce an electromagnetic field that is repellent while newer devices add ionic air cleaning. Typically the small devices are plugged directly into electric wall outlets or through an adapter cord.
The claim is that these devices "drive pests out" of a room, or structure, by a combination of electromagnetic, sonic and/or ultrasonic energy. The idea is, presumably, that the high energy waves are repellent to the various pests -- everything from cockroaches to mice.
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harmless garden spider
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Do electronic pest control devices really work?
Unfortunately, no. None of these devices have been scientifically shown to do what they claim they do. I would love to recommend these as a safe alternative to indoor pesticides if they worked -- but, I can't.
If manufacturers have scientific data that demonstrate that these devices work they should make it easily available -- but, they don't. Instead, testimonials are the only evidence of efficacy. Testimonial data, alone, simply is not reliable because it is highly subject to the "placebo effect" which, in the simplest terms, is when people see what they want to see.
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| Electronic pest control manufacturers will counter that there is no evidence that these devices don't work. This is true because neither I nor anyone else can prove a negative. There are, however, many reports of failure and I could not find a single positive result that has been published. I believe it is the responsibility of manufacturers, or distributors, to provide credible data that the electronic pest control devices they sell actually work. Otherwise, their unsupported claims are no better than "snake oil" in my opinion. Check their literature and you'll not find credible, published evidence of scientific testing.
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I'll make an offer. If published studies exist and these studies demonstrate a claimed effect on pest behavior, I'll gladly amend this page and include the results. All the manufacturers need do is send me a reference or the name of a credible researcher. (No one has responded to this offer in over a year ... and counting! see updates below)
Are there any good uses for electronic pest control devices?
Maybe. If having one of these devices plugged into your wall outlet will convince you that you don't need to use insecticides indoors then by all means get one and check back with 'Bugs for least-toxic control options that actually work!
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| Update (2/26/08): Someone has sent me, anonymously, a link to a study from 2002 conducted at Kansas State University that tested a commercial ultrasonic device against reproduction in Indian meal moth. The study found that moths enclosed in a chamber and subjected to fairly high (94 dB) ultrasonic sound produced fewer spermatophores (in males), fewer larvae, and the larvae weighed less.
While these results are interesting I don't think they tell us much about how these devices perform under real world situations. High levels of ultrasonic sound may act as a sort of birth control for moths, at least under these artificial conditions. Whether or not this would result in useful pest management remains to be tested.
Update (3/20/08): I just ran across another article published in 2006 by the same researchers who conducted the 2002 at KSU. This time they tested the ultrasonic devices for repellency against german cockroaches. In short, the devices failed to show repellency and they concluded that the devices would not be useful for pest management of cockroaches.
Related information: [FTC Warns Manufacturers and Retailers of Ultrasonic Pest-control Devices]
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
Please see the Disclaimer statements as well (sorry, but these really are necessary).
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