How do bed bugs reproduce?

February 23, 2024• Blogs• Kamal Rana

How do bed bugs reproduce

Bed bugs are oviparity. Bed bugs require both males and females to reproduce. The process of their reproduction is called “traumatic insemination or hypodermic”. Even though they require two sexes to reproduce, bed bugs have a unique way of the insemination process. In this blog, you will explore how do bed bugs reproduce.

The male bed bug doesn’t use a specific spot on the female bug’s body for mating. Instead, he stabs her anywhere with his “hypodermic” organ and releases sperm. The sperm then travels through her body to fertilize the eggs in her ovaries.

This process harms the female because it can cause infection, trigger her immune system, and shorten her lifespan. Some bedbug species have an organ called a “spermalege” that helps males find safer places to mate on the female’s body.

Male bed bugs may sometimes forcefully inseminate other males, and they might even inseminate other insects that are not related to them. But don’t fret, they don’t mate with humans; instead, bed bugs feed just on human blood using their sharp, pointed mouthparts.

How long does it take for the bed bug eggs to hatch?

Then, the female bed bugs start feeding on blood as they require a lot of blood to lay eggs. It takes her about three days to fully develop the eggs and lay them. She can lay about 1 to 6 eggs in a day and it takes about 7-14 days to hatch.

When it’s time to lay the eggs, she looks for a dark crevice where the eggs can stay safe and unbothered until it takes time to hatch eggs. She starts reproducing again after about 6 weeks. By this time, her children would have been old enough to lay eggs themselves.

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FAQs

How do bed bugs reproduce?

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How do bed bugs multiply so quickly?

Although they can produce up to five eggs in a single day when they are at their busiest, female bed bugs normally lay one egg every day on average. An egg can hatch in as little as 10 to 15 days, and bed bugs can begin reproducing roughly six weeks after that. The average life span of a bed bug is four to six months.

Can 1 bed bug multiply?

Since bed bugs are not asexual, they are unable to reproduce on their own.

How do bed bugs originally start?

The majority of scholars concur that bed bugs were first brought to humans in the Middle East by bats. This is because many of the caverns in the area were probably formerly shared by both people and bats.

Can one-bed bug bite 10 times?

Typically, a single bed bug requires multiple bites. A bed bug will start feeding as soon as its mouthparts are inserted and it locates a suitable blood vessel. Nonetheless, it could require multiple skin injections to identify the correct blood vessel. Furthermore, bed bugs are extremely sensitive to changes in their host's body.

Do bed bugs multiply when killed?

Squeezing bed bugs could be a way to kill them frequently, but not an excellent approach to keep them at bay. However, compressing bed bugs doesn't result in multiplying them but can be the reason for much more infestation. Bed bugs are tiny, soft, and easy to squeeze, like a pea.

Conclusion

It’s in the name; ‘traumatic’ insemination. The process is indeed very traumatic, mainly for the females. The male bed bugs purposely try going for fuller female bed bugs because their out body is stretched out and the body walls are thinner.

And bed bugs have not evolved to have immunity against the male jabs. The open world is very susceptible to infection and the female bed bugs do take a while to recover before they can reproduce themselves.

Nature is wonderful and also very shocking. Bed bug reproduction falls under the shocking nature by a mile. But as disturbing as it is, it is the way of nature and the cycle will continue.

Last modified: February 25, 2024

How do bed bugs reproduce?