How do bedbugs bite in the bed? - briefly
Bedbugs use their slender proboscis to pierce the skin, inject anesthetic‑rich saliva, and withdraw blood while the sleeper remains unaware. Bites commonly appear on exposed areas such as the face, neck, arms, and hands.
How do bedbugs bite in the bed? - in detail
Bedbugs locate a host by sensing body heat, carbon‑dioxide, and movement. When a person lies on a mattress, the insects crawl from concealed harborages—typically seams, folds, or crevices of the bedding—to the exposed skin. Feeding proceeds in several stages.
- Approach – The insect moves across the fabric, guided by thermal and chemical cues, until contact with the skin is made.
- Insertion – A slender, needle‑like mouthpart (the proboscis) penetrates the epidermis. The tip consists of a fascicle of two slender stylets that separate to create a channel.
- Saliva injection – Anticoagulant and anesthetic compounds are released into the wound, preventing clotting and reducing the host’s perception of the bite.
- Blood uptake – The insect draws blood through the canal formed by the stylets. A single feeding event may last from five to ten minutes, during which the bug can ingest up to several microliters of blood.
- Withdrawal – After engorgement, the proboscis is retracted and the insect retreats to its hiding place, where it digests the meal and stores the nutrients for later development.
Bites typically appear in linear or clustered patterns, reflecting the insect’s movement across the body while feeding. The lesions are often painless at the moment of puncture because of the anesthetic saliva, but may become itchy or inflamed hours later as the immune response develops. The presence of blood in the feeding site can be detected by the bug’s sensory organs, allowing it to cease feeding once a sufficient volume is obtained.
Understanding each phase of the feeding process clarifies why bedbugs target uncovered areas of the body, why bites are often unnoticed initially, and how the insects sustain themselves while concealed within the bedding structure.