What if you were told that there were thousands of bed bugs crawling in your mattress at night? The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is one of the most widely recognized insects in the world.
“Size of bed bug compared to dime “by Medill DC on Flickr
Bedbugs are tiny wingless insects that feed on the blood of people and animals , reproduce at a terrifying rate and are hard to get rid of. Bed bugs are attracted by the carbon dioxide (usually when we sleep) that are exhaled by us (and our pets too), they are typically found in areas really small such as: in mattress pads, backpacks, night tables, electrical outlets, behind wallpaper… etc.
The bed bug reproduction cycle is pretty horrifying. Bed bugs mate in a process called traumatic insemination. This basically means that the male injects its genitalia into the female’s abdomen, and the sperm is inserted through the wound, travels through the female’s abdominal fluid till it reaches her ovaries. The process of traumatic insemination causes a risk of infection and diseases in females, so she tends to isolate herself to avoid mating again, this also means… your backpack clothes, or even your pets, make a perfect home for a pregnant female.
The female bed bug can store sperm to fertilize her eggs for up to six weeks, and typically they can lay up to 12 eggs per day, and a female can lay anywhere from between 200-500 eggs in her lifespan, so long as both female and male have a blood meal every 14 days. With a little math, a single pregnant female can raise up to 5,000 bed bugs in six months.
Once the eggs are laid, it takes 6-17 days to be able to feed. The need for blood is apparent immediately for young ones to molt. Baby bedbugs are born they can live up to a year and a half without feeding. After 5 molting periods the baby becomes an adult, this process if affected by temperature, from around 21 days to 120 days. Adult bed bugs, can typically live around 10 months to up to a year or more, if the environment for these critters are good for reproduction (approximately 21°C and 28°C)
“Bed bug eggs mattress corner” photo taken by Bulwark Exterminating on Flickr
If you start getting rashes or little bumps on your skin after a nights rest, start making the assumption that there might be bed bugs. Start looking for signs of bed bug: dried blood or feces, carcasses or white spots (eggs – very hard to see), or live bedbugs, in small tight areas around the house, once signs mentioned are spotted, start inspecting your pets and call pest control immediately. Bed bugs die at 50°C, and it is recommended that everything be washed or steamed, or thrown out to prevent spread and further invasion of the species.
Written by Cynthia Lung
P.s. Good night, don’t let the bed bugs bite.
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