Like most parasitic insects, bed bugs reproduce extremely quickly. This is facilitated by the high nutritional value and energy value of human blood - their only type of food, as well as the comfortable conditions in which they live, and the overall species fertility.
This is interesting: unlike cockroaches, bedbugs are indifferent to the sanitary conditions in the room in which they live. They are equally successful in populating fashionable apartments, student dormitories, and summer cottages.
The reproduction of bed bugs is a process literally overflowing with specific features, and therefore knowing how bed bugs breed will not only be useful in the fight against them, but also simply interesting to every inquisitive person.
A bit of biology: reproduction of bedbugs under a microscope
The main feature in which the reproduction of bed bugs attracts the interest of entomologists is the so-called traumatic insemination. With traumatic insemination, the fertilization of the female does not occur by mutual agreement, as in other insects, but by a kind of force, when the male pierces the wall of the female's abdomen with his genital organ and introduces his seed into the internal cavities.
For many millennia of evolution, it was precisely this, quite brutal from the point of view of human ideas, that the mating method turned out to be the most preferable for domestic bugs. It ensures that in the event of prolonged starvation, which bugs often have to endure, part of the already half-formed eggs will be used by the insect's body for nutrition. Often this helps to preserve entire populations of domestic bugs.
The female bed bug mates only once in her life. This is enough for her to lay the required number of eggs in the future: the male's seed products will be stored in special organs and consumed as needed. Thanks to this, even one fertilized female can become the ancestor of a whole population of parasites in an apartment.
Male bed bugs in their desire to breed are extremely promiscuous in choosing a sexual partner. In many cases they attack other males, nymphs and even cockroaches. According to the results of the study conducted by entomologists, it turned out that almost all insects in the population, regardless of gender and age, have damage to the abdomen, that is, at least once in their lives they were attacked by an adult male.
After fertilization, the female bed bug begins to lay 4-10 eggs per day. These eggs are very small - no more than 1 mm in length.
The female leaves them in those places where she spends daylight hours. It is almost impossible to find bedbug eggs on the bed or just scattered around the apartment.
For normal and regular egg laying, the female needs to eat regularly - this is the main factor in effective reproduction. One normal meal is enough for her to lay up to 20 eggs. In general, female bedbugs feed more often and more plentifully than males, and in their lifetime they manage to lay from 300 to 500 eggs each.
The optimal conditions for the reproduction of bed bugs are achieved precisely in city apartments: fairly high humidity, temperatures in the range of 20-30 ° C, no temperature fluctuations, an abundance of shelters and, of course, constant access to food.
And further: We catch bedbugs and put deadly experiments on them - this is a must see!
Bed bug development from egg to adult
After about 3-4 days, a larva emerges from the laid egg, resembling an adult bug in miniature. Entomologists call such larvae nymphs, and in domestic bugs they differ from adult insects only in size and inability to reproduce.
The larva is constantly growing and is forced to molt, since its chitinous shell is not able to stretch. During the development of the nymph, the cover changes 5 times. For normal molting, the insect must completely fill the stomach with blood at least once.
Under normal conditions, the nymphs molt every 6-7 days, and already a month and a half after leaving the egg, they turn into adult insects.
With a decrease in temperature, the period of development of the larvae increases. So, at temperatures below 20 ° C, the larva will turn into an adult bug only after three months, and at temperatures below 15 ° C it will generally hibernate.
See also our bed bug experiments:We catch bedbugs and test different means on them - see the results...
The larva consumes less blood than the adult insect. However, due to the large number, it is immature individuals that cause the greatest trouble to humans: at night, during feeding, there are up to several dozen nymphs per adult bug on the human body.
Bedbug larvae do not know how to inject an anesthetic into the bite site. Accordingly, their bites are sensitive, and it is they who disturb people at night. The bites of adult bugs begin to itch only a few hours after feeding the parasite.
Wherever bed bugs live, their reproduction will occur constantly and regardless of the season. Therefore, if they entered the room, almost certainly after a very short time they will breed in numbers requiring the call of the SES.
Reproduction of bedbugs in an apartment: where and how quickly it happens
Bed bugs are very secretive insects.They spend most of their time in secluded hiding places - crevices, cracks, cavities under mattresses, under carpets and behind paintings, as well as between books. It is very difficult to meet a bug in the daytime. In the same places where the bugs spend daylight hours, and their reproduction occurs.
A large number of adult insects and larvae, laid eggs, larval skins and bug excrement form a so-called nest, in which there is no structure and hierarchy, but which looks very untidy. It is here that females lay their eggs and hatch larvae during the daytime rest.
There can be several nests in one apartment, and therefore the destruction of one of them, even the largest one, will not save the owners of the premises from parasites.
To assess how quickly bed bugs reproduce, it is enough to calculate the offspring from one female per unit of time: in one month, on average, about 30-70 larvae will hatch from her eggs, most of which will survive to adulthood.
During her life, one female lays about 500 eggs, and her offspring are able to breed themselves in a month. It is not surprising that usually the infection of an apartment with bedbugs resembles an invasion: literally within a week, due to rapid reproduction, their number can increase many times over.
The largest nests and clusters of bedbugs are in places closest to beds and sofas, and most often - in themselves. Here the bugs feel most comfortable and can feed with little or no energy expenditure for movement.
Substances and insects that prevent bedbugs from reproducing
Despite the increasingly active development of methods for combating bedbugs, the ideal solution to stop the reproduction of parasites has not yet been found. Most products are able to destroy adult bedbugs and their larvae, but often do not affect insect eggs. This requires multiple treatments of the apartment.
It is known that powders such as Pyrethrum and obsolete Dust can disrupt the reproductive function of bedbugs. However, their ability to simply cause poisoning of insects still has a greater effect in the fight against parasites.
In natural populations that parasitize bird and rodent colonies, the reproduction of bedbugs is controlled by superparasitic insects. These bedbug pests include some riders and flies that lay their own eggs in bedbug eggs.
The bug larva emerging from the egg is infected, superparasite larvae develop in its body, and in most cases the nymph dies after the first or second molt. The larvae of the rider themselves pupate in the body of the bug, and then adult insects emerge from it.
Of course, at home, such a biological fight against bedbugs is impossible: few of the residents of apartments will allow a flock of midges to fly around the room, capable of regulating the number of bedbugs only within certain limits.
In general, today the most effective way to stop the reproduction of bed bugs is to directly kill them with powerful and effective insecticides.
What is important to know about bed bugs for a civilized person
Birth of a bug larva from an egg
I got into a situation: a nurse, an Uzbek, lived at home, pulled clothes with bedbugs. Mom is recumbent, it is impossible to carry out processing. He came up with an original way to deal with bedbugs - he covered all the beds with plastic wrap with freely hanging ends. It turns out that bedbugs cannot climb a vertically hanging film. The result - there are no bed bugs, and those that were, after feeding, crawled under the mattresses and fell into pockets made in the film.
Andrew! Exactly, exactly! It works! It is necessary to move the bed away from the walls and furniture, and wrap the legs with lavsan tape. The bug cannot climb the mirrored lavsan. To check, I recommend throwing the caught individuals into a plastic bottle. I threw it into a lavsan milk bottle. So I found that they couldn't get out. It's another matter, there are scary stories about bedbug "superintelligence" - supposedly they can climb onto the ceiling and jump from there onto a sleeping person 🙂 But I don't believe it.
Well, don't believe it! They crawl on the ceiling, I saw.
Now I believe. Due to the impossibility of using chemicals, he acted as Andrey advised - he moved the beds away from the wall, covered them with polyethylene and calmed down for a couple of months.The attacks stopped completely, the creatures went back to the neighbors who brought them.
But recently, the wife found a well-fed individual in bed, which could only fall from the sky. Or from the ceiling. The apartment is in pre-repair condition. Don't care about aesthetics. The next step is pasting with a wide lavsan tape of all perimeters.
But in vain! I live in a hostel and watch these attacks almost every night))
We got into a situation - bedbugs appeared, from where it is not known. We found a way: 50g of vinegar 70%, 50g of kerosene. We mix and process all this furniture, corners and seams. And do so in 2-3 days.
Furniture cannot be treated with such a solution.
And how do you think of the way I thought out: a sofa, a bed, an armchair - move away from the walls, spray with two or three (together) different insecticides and ... Cover with plastic wrap hanging down to the floor. Everything, you can go to the fresh air. Then he came, ventilated, swept the floor. But I haven't tried it myself.
I rented a room to a girl, two days later she shows me that I have bedbugs in my room. Can they reproduce in two days? Or did it come before? But there is nothing in my room. Maybe she brought it with her?
These bugs are everywhere!
Good day everyone! The bug is small, but smelly, the ancients used to say. They bite terribly. They bite really selectively, I have the first blood group, the residents in the same apartment have a different one. I came to visit friends, I suffer and are covered in bites, and the neighbors - almost nothing. I fight insects (cockroaches and bedbugs) equally effectively in different residential premises and different regions of the country according to the same scheme. 1. I buy a piece of chalk "Mashenka" (penny purchase). 2.I put it in parts (break it) between sheets of paper (newspaper, etc.), roll the chalk on top with a rolling pin or a glass bottle, turning the chalk into dust. 3. I pour the resulting dust into a container (empty) from under baby powder (a cheap purchase at a pharmacy) and pollinate the likely places where parasites accumulate with clouds of the specified chemical. Cockroaches are poisoned instantly, crawl out of all their shelters, climb up the walls and fall paralyzed to the floor. Whoever received a small dose will run to infect other cockroaches, as they communicate by touching each other with their antennae and regularly licking these antennae in their mouths. The bugs are slower, but they, having received poisoning, crawl out of their shelters onto the walls - a sign of their poisoning. As a rule, bedbugs are afraid of lighting, but in dope they already understand little and crawl out onto the walls. You do not collect them at this time, many of the infested bugs should get to their nests and families and infect everyone who is there. They will communicate with other bugs along the way and infect them along the way. After 3-4 days, pollinate the premises again, this is for eggs previously laid by parasites. The larvae will hatch from them after the death of their parents, poison themselves and their breeding chain will be interrupted. I am glad if, after applying my method of dealing with bad parasites, you wake up in the morning and you will not have bites from bedbugs and crawling cockroaches. I don’t recommend smearing walls and baseboards with chalk “Mashenka”, the stripes are not aesthetically pleasing, until the parasite gets to them. And all living creatures must breathe constantly and move along the pollinated surface for these small creatures - an inevitable matter. All the best and good luck in the fight against the enemies of man who do not choose the country of residence, gender, nationality and age of their victim.
Cool, let's try.
Bed bugs cannot be crushed. They emit bad smells ... They reproachfully say about an unpleasant person: Small bug, but smelly. They (bugs) react to the stench of a crushed parasite and multiply even more actively (the rod at night to carbon dioxide emitted by a person). You can not do without chemistry when destroying bedbugs. In villages where there is stove heating, this muck is not there. In the old days, they heated the house in a black way, that is, without a chimney, there were no cockroaches, no bedbugs - vile creatures. How to get rid of bedbugs - you need kerosene, turpentine, a thick soapy solution. Lubricate all the cracks with a wide brush, treat all sofas with dichlorvos, and wash the pillows. Most importantly, do not smoke and do not light matches. Folk methods are good subject to safety precautions.
When bedbugs appeared in the son's sofa, the sofa was thrown out. Bed bugs were crushed under the wallpaper without removing the wallpaper. Then I washed these places with a soapy cloth. And on the walls, and on the wallpaper. Fortunately, the bugs were only in a few places where the wallpaper had come off, in the area where the sofa was located. Only then they removed the wallpaper and threw it away. It's been 6 years and no bed bugs.
Damn, everyone talks so beautifully about how they got rid of these creatures, and live happily, but they didn’t really advise anything. The only thing I liked about the crayon, I will definitely try it ...
Damn, before the new year I called the SES, today I just caught this biting abomination on the wall ((What to do, I’ll never know ... Of course, I’ll turf them again under the guarantee, but is it worth it? Since even the SES didn’t help? Or look for money again to another company… What to do, tell me?!
Call again, once under warranty! And look there...
They will not help, crayon try better.
Burn everything together with neighbors)) Just kidding. We ourselves have been struggling for a year - nothing helps ...
Of course, under warranty it is necessary to call. You can always contact another company.
I also have bed bugs, it's so disgusting, just awful! We just took apart the beds and washed them with boiling water from a hose, I saw so many of them that I can’t even fall asleep ...
Before the New Year, December 29, I found bedbugs in the sofas in two rooms. The son's sofa is older, upholstered with a material containing natural fabrics. And in it I found nests and a bunch of bedbugs. I noticed irritation on the skin about 2 months ago, but I didn’t think it was bedbug bites. Struggled with these creatures all the New Year holidays. What I just didn’t try: chemistry, a solution of kerosene, turpentine, tar soap; spilled sofas and skirting boards with boiling water and treated with a steam generator. She poisoned herself and barely pumped out her animals after such an attack. Three weeks later I began to sleep peacefully, I thought that everything, I defeated them. Today is January 28: I found three pieces again in my son's sofa. I can’t take it anymore, I realized that they come to the sofa from other places that I don’t see. I decided to call the SES, I have no more strength.
Chalk Mashenka plus spray Medilis Antiklop.
Six months ago, bedbugs appeared, poisoned in periods - 3 after 7 days, disappeared for 3 months. Here I caught a burgundy Hollow and one black drunk with blood. Where did they hide?!
They can crawl from neighbors
Lord, these creatures are simply unremovable, we have been suffering for a year already ... Everything just didn’t fly into the trash. They called the service - one fig, it doesn’t help ((We can’t get rid of bedbugs, since a herd of Uzbeks lived above us.They were forced to do the processing, so the dude went nuts from what he saw from them. Karbofos, comrades, try it - a terrible smell, of course, but perhaps it will help. Services use a chemical solution based on this agent.
We have already done 5 treatments in SES, we have given more than 25 thousand. Before that, they poisoned themselves twice - all to no avail. Just lie down in a coffin and die!
They just didn’t do anything - they called the SES, spent it as an executioner and agrarian, processed it with a steam generator! This is tin. I don’t sleep at night, I fall asleep at dawn. Paranoia already, everywhere they seem. Third month! Change apartment and furniture. Now I'll try to display magic, 5 in the morning. Probably just crazy))
I work in this area. And bed bugs can be dealt with! If the sofa is infected, then it is better to get rid of it. Although, as practice shows, two treatments - and everything is fine.
Just a joke, my husband and I decided to poison the cockroaches, moved out to relatives for a couple of days. And from there they brought bedbugs with them. Now, every night, the son wakes up crying because he was bitten. What to do, you will have to call the SES again and move out in a new way.
A week ago, bedbugs were poisoned in a neighboring apartment. All wallpaper and linoleum were previously removed. They threw out all the furniture. Found one adult today. What will happen now?
First time dealing with bedbugs. It took me 1 night to figure out what it was. I bought three products: powder, dichlorvos and liquid. The attack is merciless, the chances are zero. Four days in the morning and in the evening I poisoned to the fullest. Then repeated three days later. They lie dead around the sofa. And so I plan to pickle for a month periodically. How people live for years, there is no desire to even think - this is not about me.Use phenaksin, absolute powder, dichlorvos, and liquid tsifox or breeze. Everything works, but only together. They can't even reach their neighbors. It is imperative to warn the neighbors, otherwise they will return. I wish you success and patience, everything will work out. You should always do prevention if they appear at least once.
I know for sure that getting rid of bedbugs is almost impossible. I struggled for a whole year, how much money, time, nerves. Nothing helped. To get rid of them forever, you need to throw away everything: furniture, upholstered furniture, mattresses. Wash things, iron them and put them in a vacuum bag. It took me 2 months to clean things up. Peel off all the wallpaper, open the plinth. Call SES. Only then will the bedbugs leave you. Tip - when throwing furniture, mark with a marker "bugs".
Dear comrade Anonymous! Your advice when throwing away furniture to mark it with a marker "bedbugs" is very valuable for those who can read and have a conscience. My downstairs neighbor is a complete drunk, "updating" the situation from a landfill. It's useless to fight him. There, the apartment non-payment has already exceeded 200,000 - printouts no longer fit into the mailbox. He doesn't take them. I am sure that we will crush bedbugs together with the visitors of this page by the joint efforts of the brain. But what about an alcoholic?
It is generally better to break the infected furniture when throwing it away, so that no one picks it up)) From my own sad experience, I say that the bugs came to us precisely from the neighbors who dragged the chair from the landfill. When they threw out their own infected sofas, they smashed them to pieces - both so that it would be more convenient to take them out, and so that no one would definitely pick them up.
The second year has gone, as I am fighting bedbugs. I called the service, treated it with cold fog 4 times.When I moved, I did not know that there were bugs in the apartment. I took my things to the dacha and to the bathhouse, in general, the pipe - they also did it 4 times with hot fog. And they, creatures, live. All exhausted, I can not find the nest. I don't see them, but they bite every day. I'll try small Masha. And so, I sprinkled the store where I work and the apartment with ecokiller. In general, trouble, I feel like I'm going crazy.
We also have the same trouble, we moved to a rented apartment, and then there are bedbugs. I hunt them like crazy at night. Haven't tried any yet, but I think there are quite a few. And I wanted to ask: how to look for their nests and where exactly? I'm already going crazy, I get up at night, and they crawl on the child, under them. In general, tin! We can't change our apartment. Advise what and how?
Try Seachlor.
I also encountered them when I moved to another city. I went to the SES, bought a drug called "GET" (it's expensive, but it's worth it). I processed the whole room and I live calmly, I don’t know troubles.
You inflate the airbed in the middle of the room, cover it with sheets on all sides and spray generously with gardex from ticks. You lie down to sleep on this mattress. They smell, they crawl, they die.
Calling someone is a waste of time and money. Buy a sprayer and karbofos (it is sold where everything is for the garden). Dilute karbofos with water and spray wherever bedbugs can live. The smell is terrible, but the effect is 100%.
I agree with you, Olga, we ourselves suffer from these parasites. You call the service, they will come, but you will not stand with them to breathe this muck. And they do not process everywhere. The best option is to make cosmetic repairs, seal the cracks with germinate, change the wallpaper, etc.And before repair it is better to grass once.
All your sprayers do not work on bedbug larvae. They only kill adults. We need to find a nest with larvae and cook them with steam from a steam generator. The only way! Otherwise, they will continue to multiply. That's how I got them out the first time.
But how to find this nest? The bug was brought in by accident. The wallpaper on the walls was torn off. From furniture - a sofa and a cabinet for now. I've looked all over and can't find it. Where to put chalk or something else? I already have fear when it comes to the night. Lord, someone advise what to do, how to be?
From bedbugs, a Clean House helps a lot. Expensive but effective. And bedbugs need to be poisoned correctly, every three to four days for a month.