How Long Do Bed Bugs Live?
WouterHow long do bedbugs live? The adult bedbug is a flat, oval-shaped insect about a half-inch long with no wings. They have small, compound eyes and a set of highly developed antennae. The head and pronotum are covered in many tiny hairs. The immature bedbug is about a twentieth to a fifth of an inch long, with a lighter yellowish-white color.
Female bedbugs disperse more widely than male bedbugs. They store male sperm for up to four or six weeks and can reproduce to start new infestations. Severe infestations tend to produce an oily liquid and sweet-smelling odor. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to tell if you’re living with bedbugs.
Bedbugs feed during the night by penetrating the skin of a human by penetrating the skin with their elongated mouthpart. Their long stylets fold under their bodies while resting, but fully extend during blood feeding. Their mouthpart consists of two canals, a small salivary canal and a larger food canal. The smaller canal carries saliva, while the larger food canal sucks in blood and body fluids.
The three populations of bedbugs used in the study all had similar results, with the hotel population ingesting about 51 mg of blood per box and the laboratory population ingesting 37 mg. The differences were not significant. All three populations produced viable eggs and nymphs at several stages, and the older laboratory strain produced an intermediate number of offspring.
