What does a bedbug do when it becomes engorged with blood? - briefly
After a full blood meal, the insect seeks a protected hiding place to digest the intake and later undergoes a molt. During digestion it expands, remains largely inactive, and prepares for the next feeding cycle.
What does a bedbug do when it becomes engorged with blood? - in detail
After a blood meal, the insect’s abdomen expands dramatically, sometimes reaching three times its unfed size. The immediate response is to cease feeding and withdraw to a protected harborage such as a mattress seam, wall crack, or furniture crevice. In this refuge the bug remains motionless for several hours to allow the meal to settle.
During the first 24–48 hours, the insect initiates digestion. Enzymes break down hemoglobin, while excess fluid is expelled through the malpighian tubules. The waste appears as dark spotting on surrounding surfaces. Simultaneously, the cuticle stretches to accommodate the enlarged abdomen, and the exoskeleton hardens once the blood volume decreases.
Approximately five to ten days after ingestion, the bug undergoes its first post‑prandial molt (if it is a nymph). The molting process follows a precise sequence:
- Release of a thin, watery fluid that separates the old cuticle.
- Formation of a new, larger exoskeleton beneath the loosened layer.
- Emergence of the fresh exoskeleton, now sized for the increased body mass.
- Hardening of the new cuticle over the next 24 hours.
For adult females, the engorged state triggers reproductive activity. Within three to five days, the insect develops eggs in the ovaries. Mature eggs are deposited in the harborage, each encased in a protective shell. The female may lay multiple batches over several weeks, depending on subsequent blood meals.
After digestion and, if applicable, molting, the bug resumes host‑seeking behavior. It becomes more active, moving along baseboards, furniture edges, or ceiling lines to locate a new feeding site. The cycle then repeats, with each engorgement providing the nutrients required for growth, molting, and reproduction.