What Female Bed Bugs Need to Feed to Lay Eggs
WouterBefore laying eggs, female bed bugs need to feed. This requires that they shed their skin at least five times. Once the eggs have been laid, they will wait for at least 10 days before laying more. This means that their population can double every 16 days under ideal conditions. The eggs are white and barrel-shaped, about the size of a pinhead.
Bed bug eggs are laid within one to two months after mating. Once the eggs have been laid, the female will need to mate again to continue their life cycle. After two months, they will move on to a new host to lay eggs. It’s not clear what happens after this. The female will eventually die. If she has been without a host for more than two weeks, she will lay no eggs. However, if her host is still present, she will continue to lay eggs.
Female bed bugs can lay one to seven eggs a day. The number of eggs laid depends on the temperature. They can lay up to five eggs per day after feeding on blood. Once the eggs have been laid, the young bed bugs will start feeding. A female bed bug can lay up to 200 eggs in her lifetime.
Bed bug eggs are visible in clusters, and they are almost transparent. They usually stick to surfaces such as wood and fabrics. Freshly laid eggs are shiny and translucent. Female bed bugs secrete a sticky substance once they’ve reproduced. Because of this, they can be difficult to detect without the use of a magnifying glass. Empty eggshells will not be shiny, and they may also be flat.
