How do bed bugs live and reproduce? - briefly
Adult bed bugs reside in concealed crevices, emerge at night to feed on human blood, and return to their shelters to digest and molt. Females deposit 1–5 eggs each day; the eggs hatch in about a week, and the insects pass through five nymphal stages before reaching adulthood.
How do bed bugs live and reproduce? - in detail
Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are hematophagous insects that depend on human blood for nourishment and development. Adults hide in cracks, crevices, mattress seams, or furniture during daylight, emerging at night to feed. Feeding lasts 5–10 minutes; the insect inserts its proboscis, injects saliva containing anticoagulants, and ingests a blood meal sufficient for several days of metabolism.
After a blood meal, the female stores the protein-rich fluid and begins oviposition. She can lay 1–5 eggs per day, up to 200–300 over her lifetime. Eggs are oval, 0.5 mm in length, and are deposited on surfaces near the host’s sleeping area—typically in seams, folds, or wallpaper. Incubation requires a temperature of 21–30 °C and lasts 6–10 days, after which nymphs hatch.
Nymphs pass through five instars, each requiring a blood meal before molting. The interval between molts ranges from 4 to 14 days, depending on temperature, humidity, and blood availability. Under optimal conditions (≈28 °C, 70 % relative humidity) a complete life cycle—from egg to reproducing adult—can be completed in 4–6 weeks. In cooler or drier environments development slows, extending the cycle to several months.
Reproductive capacity is amplified by the female’s ability to store multiple blood meals, allowing her to produce eggs continuously without immediate mating. Mating occurs shortly after the adult emerges; males use a specialized intromittent organ to transfer sperm, which the female can retain for months, enabling successive egg batches without further copulation.
Key biological features influencing population growth include:
- Temperature: Accelerates metabolism, feeding frequency, and development; temperatures below 15 °C markedly reduce activity.
- Humidity: High relative humidity (>60 %) improves egg viability and nymph survival; low humidity increases desiccation risk.
- Host proximity: Frequent blood meals shorten the interval between molts, increasing reproductive output.
- Aggregation pheromones: Chemical signals cause individuals to cluster, facilitating mating and protecting against environmental stress.
Understanding these parameters is essential for predicting infestation dynamics and implementing effective control measures.