![]() The entire life cycle from egg to adult requires anywhere from five weeks to four months, depending on temperature and availability of food (blood). There are five progressively larger nymphal stages, each requiring at least one blood meal before molting to the next stage. After hatching occurs, the eggshells frequently remain stuck in place. Gluelike material covers the eggs, which hatch in about 10 to 15 days at room temperature. ![]() This distinction is sometimes important to make, since managing these bed bug relatives involves managing their vertebrate hosts (i.e., bats and swallows) nesting in, on, or near homes.įemale bed bugs lay 200 to 500 tiny (1/20 inch) white eggs during their lifetimes, usually two to five eggs per day, on rough surfaces such as wood or paper near their hosts’ sleeping places, resting places, or both. These hairs are shorter than the diameter of the eye on a bed bug and longer than the diameter of the eye on bat bugs and swallow bugs. (See Pest Notes: Conenose Bugs.)īed bugs can be distinguished from their close relatives bat bugs and swallow bugs by comparing the length of the hairs on the pronotum to the diameter of the eye this requires a hand lens or microscope. Conenose bugs may be up to 3/4 inch long. The immatures, called nymphs, appear identical to the adults except for their smaller size (1/20 –1/5 inch), thinner outer skeleton (cuticle), and lighter yellowish-white color.īed bugs are readily distinguished from another common blood-sucking species, conenose bugs (also known as kissing bugs), by their smaller size, more rounded shape, and lack of wings as adults. Their bodies are flattened, they have well-developed antennae, their compound eyes are small, and the area behind the head (the pronotum) expands forward on either side of the head, bearing many small hairs. IDENTIFICATION AND LIFE CYCLEĪdult bed bugs are oval, wingless, about 1/5 inch long, and rusty red or mahogany. The reasons for this resurgence aren’t totally understood but appear to involve increased global travel and commerce, ease of movement of infested items, widespread insecticide resistance, and changes in pesticides available to control this pest. However, bed bugs have undergone a resurgence in pest status and can now be found even in the finest hotel and living accommodations. Until recently, bed bug infestations were thought to be associated primarily with crowded and dilapidated housing. Bat bugs and swallow bugs, close relatives of bed bugs, may also be found in and around human dwellings and may sometimes bite humans, although their preferred hosts are bats and birds, respectively. lectularius is optimal when it feeds on humans however, this insect also feeds on other species of mammals and on birds found near the home including chickens, mice, rats, and rabbits. The most common species found in California is C. ![]() ![]() hemipterus, the tropical bed bug, is the dominant species. It occurs more sporadically in southern temperate regions. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is a widely distributed species most frequently found in the northern temperate climates of North America, Europe, and Central Asia. Both nymphs and adults feed on sleeping or sedentary humans, mostly at night, a time when this pest’s stealthy habits are difficult to observe.īed bugs are found worldwide in association with human habitations. Eggs and cast skin (exuviae) are visible in the upper left-hand corner.īed bugs are blood-sucking insects in the family Cimicidae.
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