How bedbugs breed in an apartment: 4 stages of development

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Bedbugs make it difficult to sleep in the morning and bite us in a dream
Bedbugs make it difficult to sleep in the morning and bite us in a dream

The appearance of domestic bugs in an apartment or house, few people happy. Indeed, these insects bring severe discomfort, since the only source of food is the blood of humans and domestic animals. And often these blood-sucking are called bedding, because it is at night in bed that they catch up with their victim.

Getting rid of parasites is not easy - it is a fact, and often such attempts end in failure. To expel insects from an apartment once and for all, you need to study their life cycle and understand how the bed bug breeds. And this will do!

Biology and methods of appearance in the apartment

For many, it remains a mystery from which bugs can appear, because the house is kept clean and tidy. Contrary to popular belief, these insects are not addicted to landfills and lack of sanitation, unlike cockroaches.

Therefore, the bug will choose not only summer cottages, but also luxury apartments and rooms in five-star hotels, if given the opportunity.

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The photo shows the eggs of bedbugs
The photo shows the eggs of bedbugs

How do bed bugs appear in the apartment:

  • through the clothes and personal belongings of guests, visitors to the house;
  • through your clothes and belongings, if you were on a business trip;
  • with used things or brought from old apartments, houses and villas, where insects lived.

Similarly, both adult insects and eggs or larvae can get into your home. And if one male bug is unlikely to damage your peace of mind, then the larvae, eggs, or the female can exponentially fill the colony in a short time.

Make sure that the “new tenants” do not share with you in the antique wardrobe
Make sure that the “new tenants” do not share with you in the antique wardrobe

If you purchase household appliances or furniture from your hands, carefully inspect before buying: in the sofa, look through all the cracks, lift the pillows, check the upholstery seams. Especially it should alert the specific "brandy" smell in the house of the owners. In this case, the purchase is better to refuse.

Breeding subtleties

Bedbugs breed at a fast pace.
Bedbugs breed at a fast pace.

The method of breeding bed bugs biologists call traumatic insemination, which is not found in mammals and most living organisms in principle. What is it especially?

  • male fixes the female;
  • pierces her belly (literally);
  • introduces your seed.

In this case, the mating occurs not by mutual agreement, but depends only on the agility of the male bug.

Interesting fact: males in this way can inseminate not only females, but also males. In this case, the seed of the male is mixed with the seed of the one who pierced the belly. Such breeding of bugs allows to enrich the genetic material and affect the survival rate of the species.

Bedbugs have traumatic insemination
Bedbugs have traumatic insemination

It is noteworthy that only once, one such intercourse will be enough for a female bug for a long time, if not for the rest of its life. Using seed at her own discretion, the female begins to lay eggs, several per day (usually up to 10).

And if you consider that these parasites live a little over a year, then in their entire life the number of new bugs produced by one female can reach thousands.

Adult insect and nymphs
Adult insect and nymphs

Whether bugs reproduce quickly is a rhetorical question. As with all parasites, the main criterion for the life cycle of bedbugs is survival, which causes them:

  • unpretentiousness to external conditions;
  • fertility;
  • the ability for long hunger strikes;
  • and, importantly, the playback speed of their own kind.
Footprints on the body of a child from bedbug bites
Footprints on the body of a child from bedbug bites

Of course, bedbugs multiply rapidly, but the growth rate of their colonies directly depends on some factors. For example:

  • availability of a permanent power source;
  • favorable environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, the presence of secluded places);
  • the number of sexually mature females (if one female has entered the house, she needs more time than several insects).
Bedbugs hide in secluded places hidden from sunlight
Bedbugs hide in secluded places hidden from sunlight

Life cycle

The life expectancy of a bug is not more than 14 months, and the life cycle itself is considered difficult. That is, in the process of development, insects undergo several stages:

  • egg;
  • larva (nymph);
  • imago (adult stage).
Life cycle of bloodsucker
Life cycle of bloodsucker

More clearly the entire life cycle of the bug is presented in the table:

A photo Description
table_pic_att15087764369 Stage 1. Fertilization
  • The male chooses a female and fixes her paws.
  • Pierces her abdomen with the genitals and injects seed.
table_pic_att150877643810 Stage 2. Masonry formation
  • The female lays several eggs after each meal (this is the key factor).
  • Masonry can be distributed in all secluded places, but they are not concentrated in any one place.

Bedbug eggs are very small, no more than a millimeter, milky in color.

table_pic_att150877643911 Stage 3. Nymph exit
  • After 5–7 days, the small larva of the bug stumbles from the egg, it is almost transparent, but it is already able to drink blood.
  • In 1.5 months the larva molts about 5 times and turns into an adult insect, ready for breeding.
table_pic_att150877644012 Stage 4. Imago (adult insect)

Approximately on the 30–40th day after hatching, the last molt occurs, the nymph becomes indistinguishable from adult bugs.

Thus, the full cycle of breeding bed suckers takes a little more than a month.

Deduce the bloodsucker really do it yourself with the help of household insecticides, and with the help of a specialized brigade. However, the price of their services will be significantly higher than the purchase of a can of poison. There is also a “golden mean” - buying a professional insecticide and self-processing (usually detailed instructions are attached to the product).

Conclusion

For effective struggle with annoying domestic parasites, it will be useful to know how to multiply bed bugs, so that, as they say, to catch the enemy off guard and first thing to destroy the clutches and females.

The video in this article describes in detail the life cycle and the most common habitats of insects in an apartment. Any questions? Ask them in the comments!

How bedbugs breed in an apartment: 4 stages of development

How bedbugs breed in an apartment: 4 stages of developmentBed Bugs

Biology and methods of appearance in the apartment Breeding subtleties Life cycle Conclusion Bedbugs make it difficult to sleep in the morning and bite us in a dreamThe appearance of domestic...

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