How Long Bed Bugs Live Without Blood?
WouterYou may have been wondering how long bed bugs live without blood. This question is important because they can carry disease that can cause severe illness. The fact is, bed bugs can feed on blood up to six times their weight in just one feeding session. The duration of each feeding event ranges from three to ten minutes. Once the bugs have fed, they leave an itchy bite, which can lead to skin irritation and infection. Symptoms may appear a day after the feeding, but you may not even know that you have been bitten.
The life span of bed bugs depends on a variety of factors, including age and activity level. For example, a baby bug will not live long without a blood meal, while an adult will live for at least 4.5 months without a host. Another factor is the habitat. A small area will not have much area to cover, so bed bugs will likely be less active than a large one.
One study found that the average survival time of the first instar of bed bugs was considerably lower than other instars. Adult bed bugs survived for a similar amount of time, but first instars were significantly more susceptible to starvation. Similarly, second instars and fifth instars did not survive for over a hundred and thirty-five days.
