When you wake up to realize that you have bed bugs and you need to have them treated, it can be an extremely stressful moment. If your home is being treated for a current bed bug infestation you need to leave all your belongings behind and wait until the treatment is complete and it is okay to go back in. One area that is a concern for many people is they want to be sure that the bed bugs are gone. Knowledge is power and A-Tex Pest Management wants to explain bed bug feeding habits and how long they can live without feeding.
A-Tex Pest Management Explains the Bed Bug Life Cycle & How Long Bed Bugs Can Go Without Feeding
- What is the Life Cycle of a Bed Bug?: It is good to know more about how a bed bug lives and grows when you are looking at treating a home for bed bugs. They start off as an egg that is extremely tiny. That is the first of six stages before a bed bug is fully grown into an adult. The egg will hatch and emerge as a nymph which is the second stage of the process. The nymph is about the same size as the egg but the biggest difference is that it will go after a blood meal from a host that is near the area. Before each stage begins, the bed bug will molt. There is a second nymph stage and this bed bug stage will have a slightly larger bug that will feed on blood and molt again. There are three more nymph stages that will happen and as the nymph molts it will get larger and continue to feed on blood. The sixth stage of the bed bug life cycle is an adult bed bug that is the largest. This time the bug will continue to feed on blood until it is killed or exterminated. Female bed bugs are able to lay around five eggs each day and the life cycle will continue.
- How Long Do Bed Bugs Live Without a Host?: A bed bug comes out at night or when a person is sleeping and will attach to that person to feed on their blood. They will continue to feed up until they are full and then they will go back to hiding away. That is why they are sometimes hard to find since they are hidden when you are awake and looking. There have been two main studies that have been done to test how long a bed bug can continue to live without food and the bad thing is that they are quite different. One tested a group of bed bugs and found that some were able to last 18 months without a blood meal! The other study that was done much later took bed bug eggs and grew them to adulthood. After that time came they were only able to have some of them last about four months without a blood meal. The problem is that whether it is 18 months or just four months, no one can leave their home for that period of time waiting for the bed bugs to die off. This is why it is extremely important to contact a professional that is able to treat your home for bed bugs and have you back to your regular routine in no time.
Bed Bug Inspections, Prevention, Control & Removal in Austin, Round Rock, Leander, Pflugerville & Cedar Park, Texas.
Contact A-Tex Pest Management for thorough visual bed bug inspections and effective control, as well as prevention and treatment for all the pests that plague your home or business.