What do household bed bugs eat? - briefly
Household bed bugs subsist solely on the blood of humans, typically feeding at night when the host is at rest. They may also bite other warm‑blooded animals if humans are unavailable, but human blood remains their primary and preferred food source.
What do household bed bugs eat? - in detail
Household bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are obligate hematophagous insects, meaning they obtain all nutritional requirements from the blood of warm‑blooded hosts. Their feeding cycle consists of locating a host, probing the skin with a specialized beak, injecting saliva that contains anticoagulants and anesthetic compounds, and then ingesting a volume of blood typically ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 µL per meal. This blood provides proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals essential for growth, reproduction, and metabolism.
Key aspects of their dietary behavior include:
- Host specificity: Primarily humans, but occasional feeding on domestic pets (dogs, cats) or wildlife that enters the dwelling.
- Feeding frequency: After a blood meal, an adult may survive several weeks to months without another meal, depending on temperature and humidity. Nymphal stages require a blood meal to molt to the next instar.
- Meal size variation: Early instars consume less blood than mature adults; a fifth‑instar female may ingest up to 7 µL, sufficient to produce up to five eggs.
- Physiological adaptations: Salivary enzymes prevent clotting and mask the bite, allowing uninterrupted feeding for 5–10 minutes.
- Metabolic storage: Excess nutrients are converted into glycogen and lipids, stored in the fat body for periods of starvation.
Environmental conditions influence feeding behavior. Temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C accelerate digestion and increase the frequency of blood meals, while low humidity prolongs survival without feeding. In the absence of a host, bed bugs enter a quiescent state, reducing metabolic rate to conserve energy.
Overall, the exclusive reliance on vertebrate blood defines the species’ ecological niche and drives the need for regular human contact in infested residences. Understanding these details aids in developing targeted control measures that disrupt feeding cycles and reduce population viability.