What do forest bedbugs eat? - briefly
Forest bedbugs obtain nutrition mainly from plant sap, especially the phloem of trees and shrubs, and may supplement it with fungal spores or decaying organic material. Their exact diet depends on species and habitat, but it is largely based on plant fluids with occasional opportunistic feeding.
What do forest bedbugs eat? - in detail
Forest‑dwelling bedbugs, primarily Cimex species adapted to wooded environments, obtain nutrition exclusively from the blood of vertebrate hosts. Their feeding cycle consists of locating a host, penetrating the skin with a rostrum, and ingesting a meal sufficient to sustain development and reproduction.
The principal sources of blood are:
- Small mammals such as squirrels, rodents, and marten species.
- Ground‑dwelling birds, including thrushes, woodpeckers, and pheasants.
- Occasionally reptiles or amphibians that rest in leaf litter or under bark, when they are the only accessible warm‑blooded animals.
Feeding occurs primarily at night when hosts are inactive. Bedbugs detect heat, carbon‑dioxide, and movement to identify a target. After a successful bite, they withdraw up to 0.2 ml of blood, a volume that can represent 10‑15 % of their body weight. The ingested blood is stored in a distended abdomen and gradually digested over several days; enzymes break down proteins and lipids, providing amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates necessary for molting and egg production.
Reproductive females require a blood meal before oviposition. Each female can lay 1–5 eggs per feeding event, and the nutrient content of the meal directly influences fecundity. In the absence of suitable hosts, bedbugs enter a quiescent state, reducing metabolic activity to survive weeks without feeding.
Thus, the diet of forest‑associated bedbugs is strictly hematophagous, relying on the blood of mammals, birds, and, on rare occasions, ectothermic vertebrates encountered within the forest floor and canopy microhabitats. Their survival hinges on the availability of these hosts and the ability to locate them through sensory cues.