What do gray bedbugs eat? - briefly
Gray bedbugs subsist solely on the blood of humans and other warm‑blooded animals, seeking hosts during nighttime when they detect carbon dioxide and body heat. Their bites occur on exposed skin, providing the nutrients required for growth and reproduction.
What do gray bedbugs eat? - in detail
Gray‑colored bedbugs rely exclusively on hematophagy; their digestive system is adapted to process vertebrate blood. Adult insects, as well as late‑stage nymphs, insert a stylet into the host’s skin, secrete anticoagulant saliva, and ingest a meal of approximately 5–7 µL of blood per feeding. This intake supplies proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and iron necessary for egg production, molting, and energy storage.
Key aspects of their feeding biology:
- Host range: Primarily humans; also birds, rodents, and other mammals when available.
- Feeding frequency: After a blood meal, development progresses to the next instar or, for adults, to reproduction. Inter‑meal intervals range from 3–5 days in warm conditions to several months during cold periods.
- Digestive processing: Proteolytic enzymes break down hemoglobin; excess water is excreted as a diuretic droplet. Iron is sequestered in ferritin complexes to prevent oxidative damage.
- Metabolic reserves: Lipid droplets accumulate in the fat body, enabling survival without a meal for up to a year under low‑temperature conditions.
- Reproductive output: A single female can lay 200–500 eggs after a series of blood meals, with each oviposition requiring a fresh intake of host blood.
Nymphal stages (instars 1–4) also require blood for each molt. Their mouthparts are proportionally smaller, resulting in reduced blood volume per feeding, but the nutritional requirement per molt remains constant relative to body mass.
Blood composition influences development speed. High‑protein meals accelerate molting, while low‑protein or diluted blood prolong the interval between stages. Laboratory studies show that artificial blood substitutes lacking serum proteins fail to support normal growth, confirming the necessity of intact plasma components.
In summary, the diet of these pale‑hued bedbugs consists solely of vertebrate blood, with precise physiological mechanisms governing acquisition, digestion, and storage to sustain their life cycle and reproductive success.