Why are bedbugs bred? - briefly
Bedbugs are not intentionally cultivated; they proliferate when humans supply accessible shelters and the insects develop resistance to many control measures. Their numbers rise due to global travel, infested furniture, and insufficient eradication strategies.
Why are bedbugs bred? - in detail
Bedbugs multiply primarily because they find environments that meet their biological needs: access to human blood, sheltered hiding places, and temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C. When these conditions are present, a single female can lay up to five eggs per day, producing several hundred offspring in a few months. The following factors accelerate population growth:
- High-density housing or shared accommodations that facilitate movement between rooms.
- Frequent travel, which transports insects across geographic regions on luggage, clothing, or furniture.
- Inadequate or improperly applied pest‑control measures that fail to eliminate all life stages, allowing survivors to repopulate.
- Development of resistance to common insecticides, reducing the effectiveness of chemical treatments.
Researchers also maintain colonies of bedbugs under controlled laboratory conditions. Such breeding serves several purposes:
- Evaluation of new acaricides and assessment of resistance mechanisms.
- Study of feeding behavior, life‑cycle parameters, and reproductive biology.
- Genetic analysis to trace the spread of infestations and identify strain variations.
In natural settings, the insects are not deliberately cultivated; their numbers increase as a consequence of the above ecological and anthropogenic influences. Effective management therefore requires eliminating harborages, applying integrated pest‑management strategies, and monitoring for resistance patterns.