Bed bugs are reddish-brown to mahogany in color and adults are 1/5-1/4” long and about 1/8” wide. Eggs are white in color, elongated and about 0.04” long. Females lay an average of 2 eggs per day and will lay around 200-500 eggs in her life time. Eggs hatch in 10 days at room temperature (around 75 degrees). With optimal conditions, the availability of blood meals and favorable temperatures, the life cycle time from egg to laying eggs is between 45-60 days.
There are 7 stages to the bed bug life cycle. The first being the egg stage, 5 separate nymph stages and the adult stage. To develop and molt to each successive instar, the nymphs must obtain a blood meal, usually from a human host. Soon after molting into the adult stage, bed bugs begin seeking hosts to obtain a bloodmeal. Adult males will generally not attempt to mate with an adult female until she has fed, and are especially attracted to recently fed females. In a few as three days after feeding and mating, the females can begin egg-laying.
Bed bugs live about 4-6 months under normal conditions, but can live up to a year without feeding if temperature is undesirable or bloodmeals are infrequent. Bed bugs are nocturnal insects that prefer to hide close to where the human host rests or sleeps. They will squeeze their flattened bodies into cracks and crevices in mattresses, box springs, headboards and bed frames. Bed bugs will congregate in these hiding places, leaving spots and stains from their feces.
