How Do Bed Bugs Shed Their Shell?
WouterIf you suspect that you have bedbugs, you may want to know how to get rid of them. Bedbugs will leave tell-tale signs of their presence on your mattress, including empty shells, blood stains, and eggs. If you find any of these things, you should thoroughly clean the mattress and wash the bedbug shells thoroughly. You might also notice other signs, such as fecal stains and live bedbugs.
When bedbugs are in their adult stage, they will stop molting their shells. This process will occur five times before they reach adult size. After reaching this stage, they will begin searching for their first blood meal and continue to feed. During this time, they will grow to three millimeters in length.
When bedbugs molt, their exoskeleton and abdomen swell. The resulting shed shell looks like a small, empty shell and can be mistaken for an egg. Adult bedbugs have white skin and are around the size of an apple seed. Their nymph shells are smaller, around the size of a grain of rice. The exoskeleton is made of a tough substance called chitin.
When bedbugs shed their shell, the old exoskeleton falls away, allowing a new one to grow underneath. This allows the new exoskeleton to protect the insect’s body. During this process, bed bugs shed their shells five times before they reach maturity.
