Feb 28, 2012 – Hatched And Hungry
QUESTION:
In regards to a newly hatched bedbug nymph, how soon does it need to have its first blood meal to remain viable.
ANSWER:
It seems pretty clear that we are not going to starve bed bugs out of infested homes. Typically we read that a newly emerged bed bug nymph must feed within just a few days or it will die, and this may be the "normal" situation for most of these newly hatched bugs. But, in the excellent "Bed Bug Handbook" by Pinto, Cooper, and Kraft, they report that one of the authors "has had newly emerged nymphs survive for over three months without a blood meal". This tells us that at least some of the first instar nymphs are likely to survive for a long time, and all it takes is just those few survivors to get the problem rolling again. This is the reason that our industry experts advise us that we must kill every last bug and egg to be able to claim success. To leave just a couple of live eggs behind means the problem is still there.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
In regards to a newly hatched bedbug nymph, how soon does it need to have its first blood meal to remain viable.
ANSWER:
It seems pretty clear that we are not going to starve bed bugs out of infested homes. Typically we read that a newly emerged bed bug nymph must feed within just a few days or it will die, and this may be the "normal" situation for most of these newly hatched bugs. But, in the excellent "Bed Bug Handbook" by Pinto, Cooper, and Kraft, they report that one of the authors "has had newly emerged nymphs survive for over three months without a blood meal". This tells us that at least some of the first instar nymphs are likely to survive for a long time, and all it takes is just those few survivors to get the problem rolling again. This is the reason that our industry experts advise us that we must kill every last bug and egg to be able to claim success. To leave just a couple of live eggs behind means the problem is still there.
Older nymphs and adult bed bugs can go a lot longer without a blood meal, and since blood is the only thing they eat the presence of a host animal is necessary. Just how long they can survive depends a lot on temperature, and at 50 degrees Fahrenheit a bug that has had a previous blood meal may survive 5 to 10 times longer than it would if the temperature is 80 degrees. A table in the bed bug book is fascinating but frightening, showing that late stage nymphs that have previously taken blood were able to survive for up to 485 days without another meal. That is well over a year with the temperature at 50 degrees, although it dropped to only 40 days at 80 degrees. Adult bed bugs were not far behind, averaging about 415 days (50 degrees) and up to 87 days at 80 degrees for females. Obviously numbers like these are not hard and fast rules, but they do point out the survival mechanism built into these efficient parasites.
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