How many days can bedbugs live without people? - briefly
Bed bugs can survive without a human host for roughly 180 days, and up to about 300 days in cool, humid environments. At higher temperatures their lifespan drops dramatically, often ending within 30 days.
How many days can bedbugs live without people? - in detail
Bed bugs can endure extended periods without feeding, but survival time varies with environmental conditions and life stage.
Adults typically survive 5–6 months at moderate temperatures (approximately 21 °C or 70 °F) and relative humidity around 50 %. Cooler environments slow metabolism, allowing some individuals to persist for up to 12 months, while higher temperatures (30 °C or 86 °F) accelerate energy use and reduce starvation tolerance to 2–3 weeks.
Nymphs, which have less stored energy, generally last 2–4 months under similar moderate conditions, extending to 6–8 months in cooler settings. Their survival contracts sharply in warm, dry air, often falling below one month.
Eggs cannot hatch without a blood meal; they remain viable for about 7–10 days before requiring a host. If a female deposits eggs in a location devoid of humans, the unhatched eggs will perish after this interval.
Key factors influencing starvation endurance include:
- Temperature: Lower temperatures decrease metabolic rate, prolonging life; higher temperatures increase it, shortening survival.
- Humidity: Moderate humidity prevents desiccation; very low humidity accelerates water loss and death.
- Life stage: Adults possess larger fat reserves than nymphs, granting longer starvation periods.
- Sex: Females often outlive males due to greater energy reserves needed for reproduction.
In practice, a well‑sealed, cool, and moderately humid environment can allow a bed‑bug population to remain dormant for many months, potentially reactivating when a host returns. Conversely, exposure to heat treatments or low‑humidity conditions dramatically curtails the time they can survive without feeding.