April 26, 2016 | Korin Miller

There’s no getting around it: Bed bugs are gross, but they’re out there. The blood-sucking critters have shown up everywhere from apartments to movie theaters and, even worse, you can have them and not even know it. So, it makes sense that you’d want to do everything you can to repel them. Luckily, scientists are on the case.

In a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology, researchers from Union College and the University of Florida found that bed bugs have color preferences. Specifically, bed bugs prefer red and black and hate yellow, white, and green.

To reach these findings, scientists put bed bugs in Petri dishes that contained bed bug-sized tents made out of different colors of paper. The bugs, which love to hide in cracks and crevices, booked it for shelter, but preferred red and black tents when given the chance to their white, yellow, and green counterparts.

Entomologist Roberto M. Pereira, Ph.D., a research scientist with the University of Florida who worked on the study, tells SELF that bed bugs may prefer red and black over yellow and green simply because red and black are darker colors, and bed bugs like to hide in dark corners and crevices. As for yellow and green, Pereira says it’s possible that bed bugs simply don’t like them because they’re bright.

While having red sheets might attract bed bugs, bed bug expert Jeffrey White, technical director for BedBug Central, tells SELF that switching to white, yellow, or green sheets likely won’t repel them altogether. Here’s why: Research has shown that bed bugs will avoid a piece of paper that’s been sprayed with pesticide, but will stand on it when there’s food present, eat, and then go away. Since you’re the bed bug equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet, the attraction to you will overcome the repellency of the colors. “Yes, they’d prefer to hide on a black or red surface, but if there’s food like you sleeping on yellow sheets, they’re going to go there anyway,” White says.

So, what can you do?

Pereira says there might be some benefit in having a yellow or green suitcase, although he points out that the folds of suitcases are often dark which, yup, attracts bed bugs. However, he says, if you put a dark suitcase in a bed bug-infested area next to a yellow suitcase, “it’s very likely that the dark suitcase will attract more bed bugs and have more eggs laid on it.” So…maybe skip dark tones the next time you’re suitcase shopping.

“The way that we usually get bed bugs is by visiting a place that has them and bringing it back to our place or having a visitor that brings bed bugs to you,” Pereira says, so it’s important to take the proper precautions with your clothes and luggage—where they like to travel—when you get home. If you suspect that a place where you stayed wasn’t entirely bed bug-free, Pereira recommends unpacking your luggage in the garage and throwing your clothes immediately into the washing machine and then dryer. “Things that don’t need to be washed can go in the dryer alone, since the heat will kill bed bugs and their eggs,” Pereira says.

He also recommends thoroughly inspecting your luggage, looking for dark spots or tiny blood stains in the crevices. If you find them, there are products like ThermalStrike Expedition that heat up your luggage to kill the pests. Just don’t stress as much about bed bugs being on your own body. “They’re not like ticks,” Pereira says. “They wouldn’t be on your body for any longer than it takes for them to feed.”

White also stresses the importance of being cautious about buying used furniture, at a garage sale, thrift store, or on the street. “To me, that’s the No.1 way that they spread,” he says, noting that things that people sit or sleep in are particularly risky. And finally, White says you can install a bed bug monitor underneath your bed, which is designed to attract the bugs.

“Preventing to the best of your ability and early detection is crucial when it comes to bed bugs,” says White.