BED BUG CHARACTERISTICS

Bed bugs fall into the insect family having six legs and three body parts known as the head, thorax, and abdomen. Bedbugs are also known as true bugs and that places them in the order of Hemiptera along with all other true bugs. Most insects that are in the “true bug” category are easily recognized by the fact that they use piercing mouthparts in order feed. Some of these true bugs use their built-in “straw-like” proboscis to feed on plants but the bed bug uses its mouthpiece to pierce the skin of humans and feed on blood.  Bed bugs can not jump but it’s legs allow the insect to easily climb most textured surfaces. Some surfaces can prove too difficult or slippery to allow the bed bug to achieve a firm grip.  Bed bugs are unable to fly, but their bodies do have non-functional wing pads known as vestigial wings.

BED BUG EGGS

Bed bugs start their life as a tiny white egg.  These eggs are about the size of table salt and normally appear white or slightly off white in color.  For an untrained eye, bed bug eggs can be difficult to locate because they are extremely small, roughly the size of a pinhead often tucked away in the cracks or crevices which can be hidden from typical view. A bed bug will emerge from an egg after a few short days (usually 4-10 days).

BED BUG NYMPHS

The nymphal stages of a bed bug’s life cycle has a similar body structure of an adult bed bug,  but nymphs are a bit smaller and will differ in color.  An unfed, first instar juvenile bed bug can appear yellowish-white in color, with some describing the bug as as translucent or opaque.  If the bed bug has recently fed than the bug may appear bright red in color, and might appear as an animated or walking droplet of blood. With each blood meal the bug will molt and advance to the next stage of development. Bed bugs undergo 5 stages of nymphal development, each stage requiring a blood meal before molting into the next stage.  After the fifth molt, the bed bug will emerge as an adult and is capable of reproduction.

ADULT BED BUGS

An unfed, adult bed bug has a very flat body which allows the insect to hide in the narrowest crevices. The color of an adult bed bug is often described as red or a dark reddish-brown.  Adult bedbugs are roughly 5 to 7 millimeters in length and have wide, flat or engorged bodies based on when the insect last fed. After a unique method of copulation, the female bed bug is capable of producing approximately three to five eggs each day. Adults can survive long periods of time without feeding.