Sometimes the best ideas show up while performing the most mundane task. Susan McKnight’s eureka moment came while feeding Jessie, her 9-year-old beagle.

Several trips to her local Ikea store and a “bagillion” 29-cent dog bowls later, the Climbup Insect Interceptor was born.

A bed bug monitoring system, the interceptor looks like a white, plastic underside of a dog bowl with two wells to determine whether bed bugs are in a household.

The center well, coated with talc to keep the bugs trapped, tells if they’re climbing down from the bed, while the outer pitfall, coated with slick paper, determines if it is approaching the bed from the room.

“Once bed bugs are established in a building, it’s a very tedious and laborious process to treat for them,” said McKnight, 59. “This is an affordable means to monitor bed bugs.

Associated Press