1. Bed Bugs : Life Cycle and Feeding Behavior © Copyright 2006 President and Fellows of Harvard College

2. Life Cycle of a Bed Bug EGGS Bed bug adult females lay many eggs over their life span of about one year. Females attach their eggs to surfaces using an “ adhesive glue” that coats the outer surface of each egg. A female may lay from 1 to 5 eggs per day and more than 200 eggs during her lifetime. Eggs are commonly laid within small cracks and crevices. It takes from 7 to 17 days for the eggs to hatch, depending upon the temperature. As soon as the nymph exits the egg, it is ready for a blood meal. An individual egg is white in color and tubular or flask-shaped with the exit hole at the smaller end of the flask. You can see these eggs with the naked eye, and they are often found under the seams of mattresses. Note: If these eggs are missed during pest control measures, the nymphs inside will hatch and proceed to feed on their hosts. First instar nymphs have already hatched from these eggs.

3. NYMPH The immature stage of a bed bug is called a nymph. There are five instars or molts as each nymph develops in successive stages towards becoming an adult. At each stage, the nymph feeds on blood. As the nymph goes through its five molts, it leaves behind its cast skin or exuvium. This cast skin or shell is light in color and is often found near the “nest” or bed bug gathering place. A bed bug nymph may be able to survive for several weeks or even months between blood meals. This means that if nymphs are present behind walls, they can emerge later and feed on hosts. Note: It also means that leaving a room vacant for several weeks will not starve out bed bugs. Bed bugs travel from place to place by crawling through cracks in walls, they are not carried on a persons shoes or clothes. Cast Skin Immature Stages

4. Mating and Reproduction Adult female Adult male Typically, females mate up to five times after a blood meal.

5. Mouth parts Feeding lasts several minutes and bed bugs may bite again a few inches away from the first bite location. All stages of nymphs and both males and females take blood. Bed bugs do not transmit diseases in nature. They penetrate the skin with sharp beak-like mouth parts that are bundled as two ventral tubes. First they inject saliva down one tube to thin the blood. Intense itching results from an individual response to the injection of saliva. They then pump up the blood using their other tube. Bed bug bites

6. Reactions to bed bug bites Location of bites are on exposed parts of the body while the host is sleeping. Welts are often a more severe reaction that develops over time to frequent bites. Some individuals show almost no response to the bites of bed bugs while others have a severe reaction of itching and welts. It is difficult to be sure that bites are from bed bugs without collecting a sample of a bed bug specimen. During feeding, the adult expands with engorged blood and leaves behind a small fecal droplet.

7. Identification of bed bugs All life stages are wingless Bed bug stains are from fecal deposits There are several kinds of bed bugs, some feed on bats and others on birds Bed bugs produce a distinctive sweet smell Traveling away from home and carrying bed and linen items back precede many infestations Bat bug Many other small bugs are easily mistaken for bed bugs Sticky traps are not very effective. Entomologists can identify bed bugs correctly.

8. Capturing and surveying for bed bugs The challenge is to detect an infestation early and to begin control measures before bed bugs have spread. There is no easy way to trap and survey for the presence of bed bugs. Other than a visual inspection for signs of bed bugs, including the presence of bites, there is no trap or device currently in use that is effective in early detection of bed bugs. The best survey trap we have is the host.