Bed Bug Lifecycle
Matt Unrein • September 17, 2024
The Lifecycle of Bed Bugs
Bed bugs go through various stages in their lifecycle which affects their feeding habitats and where they will hide. Bed bugs are blood feeders similar to mosquitos and ticks but how they travel is very different. Mosquitos travel by flight and then find standing water to repopulate. Ticks feed by taking the blood from living animals and humans to gather energy for breeding. Bed bugs are similar to ticks in that they need blood to repopulate but they travel around.
Feeding Cycle
Bed bugs have a cryptic lifestyle. This means that these pests spend most of their time hiding during daylight hours with their friends in tight and dark places. During the night, they become very active and start to look for hosts to feed on. Bed bugs are most active from 24:00 to 5:00 and this is when these pests will feed on their human host. Bed bugs are attracted by CO2 which is produced by humans naturally and bed bugs can also find their host by heat. Once the bed bugs find a host to feed on, they will only need 5-10 minutes to fill up. So the window to find a bed bug directly on your person is very small. Bed bugs only need to feed every 3-7 days on the host's blood. If you are looking for methods to keep bed bugs away from you when you sleep we have most methods that might help.
Mating and Growth Cycle
After feeding on the host's blood, bed bugs become very active in mating. On average female bed bugs will produce between 1-7 eggs per day for about 10 days for each single blood meal they got their host. A single female can produce about 113 eggs in her whole lifetime. Under the right conditions, the mortality rate for these eggs can be as low as 97%. It will take about six to nine days for the eggs to start hatching.
After the eggs hatch the nymphs will develop through five stages of molting until they reach adulthood. This process will take about 37 days to complete and under favorable conditions, about 80% of the nymphs will become adults. If you want to kill the bed bugs before they become adults then the egg and nymph stage will be when they are the most vulnerable. Please visit our FAQ page
for the signs of bed bugs and please give us a call at 816-237-5340 for a free inspection.
Bed bugs can hide in pets like bogs and cats to get access to your home. Bed bugs will find a tight and dark hiding spot and can then hitch a ride to a new location. Once they arrive they will find a place to hide and hoists they can feed on. They can hide in furniture, clothes, and even pets. SOS Pest Control can eradicate these pests.
It was reported by the New York Times (NTY) that passengers said they found bed bugs on flights that belonged to Turkish Airlines. Bed bugs can hide on people, in luggage, and in the tight spaces between structures. These are all things that airlines have and that bed bugs love. Please remember that bed bugs can be found in both clean and dirty environments. Where there are people, there can be bed bugs.
