What do bedbugs feed on besides blood? - briefly
Bedbugs subsist solely on the blood of warm‑blooded hosts; they do not consume plant material, other insects, or any non‑blood food sources. Their digestive system is specialized for hematophagy, making blood their exclusive nutrient.
What do bedbugs feed on besides blood? - in detail
Bedbugs are strict hematophages; their mouthparts are adapted solely for piercing skin and drawing vertebrate blood. No alternative solid or liquid food supports growth, reproduction, or development.
- Host variety – blood may be taken from humans, dogs, cats, rodents, birds, or other mammals; the insect does not discriminate among vertebrate species as long as the blood is accessible.
- Water acquisition – adult and nymphal stages obtain necessary moisture from the ingested blood. In the absence of a recent meal, they can absorb ambient humidity through the cuticle, but this does not replace the nutritional value of blood.
- Metabolic reserves – after a large blood meal, the insect stores proteins and lipids in the fat body, allowing survival for weeks to months without another feed. No other dietary input is required during these periods.
- Laboratory observations – attempts to replace blood with artificial diets, plant sap, or sugar solutions result in rapid mortality; the digestive enzymes and gut microbiota are specialized for processing hemoglobin and plasma proteins.
Consequently, the species does not consume plant material, detritus, or carrion, and it cannot complete its life cycle on any substrate other than vertebrate blood. All known physiological and behavioral evidence confirms that blood is the exclusive nourishment for bedbugs.