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They are among the most dreaded and persistent pests to invade our homes, but groundbreaking research has provided a new way to combat bedbugs.

Scientists have discovered a set of pheromones, the chemical signals given off by insects, that can lure bedbugs into traps.

They have also identified an extra component that can then, crucially, keep the biting insects in the trap and away from their human food.

Bedbug infestations cause misery for millions around the world but scientists have developed a new lure that can trap the insects by mimicking pheromones that the parasites release to signal they are in a 'safe haven'

The pest control industry has been searching for the pheromone that causes bed bugs to aggregate together for decades, but now researchers at the Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, British Columbia, have found a cocktail of them that work.

Tests on their mixture of chemicals have shown they are 'highly effective' at attracting both juvenile and adult bed bugs, whether they have had a meal of blood or not, into traps.

They now hope the bait can be used as a new cheap way of getting rid of bed bug infestations, which will be commercially available next year.

Professor Gerhard Gries, a biologist who led the work, said it could also be used to help monitor homes for bed bugs before they become a problem.

He said: 'This unique pheromone bait could become an effective and inexpensive tool for bedbug detection and potentially their control.

'The biggest challenge in dealing with bedbugs is to detect the infestation at an early stage.

'This trap will help landlords, tenants, and pest-control professionals determine whether premises have a bedbug problem, so that they can treat it quickly.

'It will also be useful for monitoring the treatment's effectiveness.'

With the solution to bedbugs now around the corner, the world will now owe a particular debt to Professor Gries wife, and fellow researcher, Regine Gries.

For the past five years, she has provided the weekly blood meal for the thousands of bedbugs that the couple keep in their laboratory.

By placing the containers where the bugs were kept against her arms, she allowed the insects to snack on her blood.

Unlike her husband who, like most people suffer ferocious itching and swelling from bedbug bites, she was immune and only suffered a slight rash.

Regine Gries (picutred has suffered 180,000 bites by acting as the food source for laboratory bedbugs as she and her husband searched for the pheromone cocktail that they hope will help eradicate the biting insects

A single undetected pregnant bedbug is all it takes to start an entire infestation recent studies have shown

She estimates that she has endured more than 180,000 bedbug bites in their pursuit to find a way of tackling the insects.

They announced their discovery of the new bedbug lure in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Bedbug infestations have increased dramatically in recent years due to global travel and central heating in homes.

There has been a 500 fold increase in the parasites in some cities and many have become immune to commonly used pesticides.

With hard, flat bodies that are around 0.2 inches long (5mm) they are able to squeeze between the joints of furniture and into the seams of bags and clothing.

The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, feeds exclusively on human blood, coming out at night from hiding places in mattresses and beds while their hosts sleep to get a meal.

Often the first signs of an infestation are painful blisters and itching, accompanied by spots of blood where they have been squashed in the night.

The common bedbug feeds exclusively on human blood, spending up to 20 minutes snacking on its host

Professor Gerhard Gries (right) and his wife Regine (middle) have worked for decades to find the pheromones that attract bedbugs into bedding and teamed up with chemist Robert Britton to identify the perfect lure

Currently, infected households are only able to eradicate bedbugs by calling in professional pest control services to treat the entire property with toxic pesticides.

For affected families, this can mean leaving their home for days on end until the infestation is completely removed.

Professor Gries and his wife began their research eight years ago in an effort to find pheromones that could lure and trap bedbugs.

They initially found a pheromone blend that attracted bedbugs in lab experiments, but not in infested apartments.

Professor Gries said: 'We realised that a highly unusual component must be missing - one that we couldn't find using our regular gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric tools.'

Working with chemist Robert Britton, also at Simon Fraser University, they began searching for chemicals shed from bedbug skin.

They eventually discovered that histamine, a molecule that is also involved in inflammation and itching in humans, seemed to play a key role.

They found that histamine causes the bedbugs not to move from a spot once exposed to it.

Eventually the researchers compiled a cocktail of five volatile chemicals on top of histamine that attract the bedbugs and then cause them to stay inside a trap.

However, despite having produced the first successful bedbug lure, Mrs Gries's ordeal is not yet over as she will continue to act as food for the laboratory's bedbugs as they continue their search.

She said: 'I'm not too thrilled about this, but knowing how much this technology will benefit so many people, it's all worth it.'

THE BEDBUG - A GROWING MENACE

Common adult Bedbug (Cimex lectularius)

Bedbugs, or cimicidae, are small parasitic insects that feed on human blood.

Reddish-brown, flattened, oval shaped and wingless, adult bed bugs grow to 4–5mm in length and 1.5–3mm wide.

To feed, the pests pierce the skin of their hosts with two hollow feeding tubes shaped like tongues.

With one tube it injects its saliva, which contains anticoagulants and anaesthetics, while with the other it sucks the blood of its host.

It takes between five to ten minutes for a bed bug to become completely engorged, after which it usually returns to its hiding place.

Bedbugs can cause a number of health effects including skin rashes and allergic symptoms. Worryingly, they have been found with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA.

The creatures were largely eradicated in the developed world in the early Forties, but since 1995 they have enjoyed an unwelcome resurgence, the reasons for which are unclear.

Elusive and usually nocturnal, bedbugs can be hard to spot.

Aside from bite symptoms, signs include faecal spots, blood smears on sheets, and molts.

They can be found singly, but often congregate once established.