Bed Bug Life Cycle

Bed Bug Life Cycle

 The life cycle of a bed bug is shown in the photograph below. During its lifetime, a bed bug will go through the following stages (starting from the top left, moving counterclockwise):

• Eggs (1 mm)
• 1st stage nymph (1.5 mm)
• 2nd stage nymph (2 mm)
• 3rd stage nymph (2.5 mm)
• 4th stage nymph (3 mm)
• 5th stage nymph (3.5 mm)
• Unfed adult
• Fed adult

A female bed bug can lay 1-5 eggs per day in cracks and crevices. Their development time is 21 days. The average life span is 6-12 months and they will feed every 10 days or so during this time. Bed bugs can survive many months without a blood meal and the reproduce in an unusual fashion. Instead of copulation by connection of genitals, bed bug males traumatically inseminate the females. This is accomplished by the male piercing her body with his syringe like genitalia and injecting her with sperm. This is not especially good for the females as they are more prone to damage or infection from such occurrences.

Bed Bugs Appearance

Bed Bugs Appearance

Adult bed bugs, in general, are:

• about the size of an apple seed (5-7 mm or 3/16 - 1/4 inch long)
• long and brown, with a flat, oval shaped body
• balloon like, reddish brown, and more elongated
• a "true bug" (include a beak with three segments; antenna with four parts; wings not used for flying; and short, golden-colored hairs)
• smelly, with a musty sweetish odor

Young bed bugs, in general, are:

• smaller, translucent or whitish-yellow in color
• if not recently fed, can be nearly invisible to the naked eye because of coloring and size

Bed bugs eggs, in general, are:

• tiny, the size of a pinhead
• pearl-white in color
• marked by an eye spot if more than five days old

Bed Bugs

Introduction to Bed Bugs

The common bed bug has been a pest for years. They feed on blood, cause itchy bites and generally irritating their human host. Most public health agencies consider bed bugs a public health pest. Unlike most public health pests, bed bugs are not known to transmit or spread disease. However, they can cause other public health issues, so it is important to pay close attention to preventing and controlling bed bugs.

Experts believe the recent increase in the bed bugs in the United States may be due to more travel, lack of knowledge about preventing infestation, increased resistance of bed bugs pesticide products, and ineffective pest control practices. The good news is that there are ways to control bed bugs. While there is no chemical quick fix, there are effective strategies to control bed begs involving both non-chemical and chemical methods.

Bed bugs can be hard to find and identify, given their small size and their habit of staying hidden. It helps to know what to look for, since the various life stages have different forms. Follow our blog for more information on bed bugs appearance and life cycle.

Swarmer Ants

Swarmer Ants

Many ant species exist and you may have them around your home making mounds in the lawn or dirt piles on your driveway. As part of their seasonal activity, ants will produce a swarm of winged flying ants, known as swarmer ants. Swarming is also known as reproductive flight, as the ants are out to start new colonies. It is important to be able to tell a swarmer ant from a termite, as the latter could represent a problem.

Swarm Season

Swarming is seasonal, often taking place in the spring, and can occur once to a few times a year. It typically lasts for one day and happens simultaneously for all colonies in an area, which increases the chance of a queen finding a mate from a different colony. Most ant species release swarmers in the late afternoon, typically after a shower of rain followed by sun. Pavement ants and carpenter ants often release as th sun is setting.

Recognizing Swarmer Ants

You can determine if a winged insect is a swarmer ant or a termite in a few different ways, though they are similar in size. Ants have a pinched-in waistline, antennae with a bend in the middle and two long and two short wings. Termites have fairly straight sides, antennae that are flexible along their entire length and appear either straight or slightly curved, and wings that are fairly equal in length. Swarmer ants are usually larger than the worker ants from their colony.