Can Bed Bugs Multiply by Themselves?
If you find bed bugs in your home, the first thing you’ll want to know is how quickly the colony will grow.
Bed bugs multiply pretty fast, but they can’t do so by themselves. Bed bugs are not asexual, meaning they require a mate to reproduce. So, your home will need a male and a female for the colony to expand.
How Do Bed Bugs Multiply?
Bed bugs can only multiply through intercourse.
They can not reproduce by themselves.
Basically, bed bugs mate through a process called traumatic insemination, where the male bed bug stabs its hard reproductive organ through the female’s abdomen.
The male gametes then travel through the female’s body to fertilize her gametes.
Afterward, the female bed bug begins to form eggs inside her body.
A few days later, as long as the female has recently eaten, she will lay her eggs.
How Many Eggs Does a Female Bed Bug Lay?
A female bed bug usually only lays one egg at a time, yet she can produce as many as five in a single day.
Generally, in her lifetime, a female bed bug lays between 200 and 250 eggs.
How Long Does it Take a Bed Bug Egg to Hatch?
In most circumstances, a bed bug egg will hatch five to ten days after the female lays it.
If an egg doesn’t hatch within two weeks, it probably isn’t viable.
Where Do Bed Bugs Lay Their Eggs?
Bed bugs prefer to lay their eggs in warm and dark areas.
And since they like to live near mattresses, you can usually find the eggs in secluded places near the bed, like along baseboards and in crevices on your bed frame.
You may also discover them on the side of your mattress or where the carpet meets the wall.
But, these are only the most likely places for bed bugs to lay their eggs.
Technically, you can find them in just about any secluded spot, such as inside your walls, mattress, box spring, or drawers.
How to Identify Bed Bug Eggs
Of course, though, there’s no point in looking for bed bug eggs until you know how to identify them.
You will find that bed bug eggs are tiny white or pearly-colored sacks, typically shaped like grains of rice.
If the bed bugs are about to hatch from them, you will also notice that they have a small black spot.
Furthermore, where you discover them will help you determine if what you have found are, indeed, bed bug eggs.
Bed bug eggs normally appear in the same places as bed bug excrement and exoskeletons.
And you can tell bed bug excrement because it will look like very small dark or rusty-colored spots.
Typically, the spots are close together since bed bugs spend a lot of time in one area.
Meanwhile, you can identify bed bug exoskeletons because they look like bed bugs but are hollow and light tan.
How to Keep Bed Bugs From Multiplying
The only way you can really stop bed bugs from multiplying is to kill as many as you can as quickly as possible.
The fewer bed bugs there are, the fewer eggs they can produce.
How to Kill Bed Bugs
When it comes to killing bed bugs, you have several options, which I will discuss below.
And while reading, remember that it is best to use multiple eradication methods simultaneously to eliminate as many insects as possible.
Keep Your Home Clean and Clutter-Free
Contrary to popular thought, bed bugs do not prefer dirty homes.
Bed bugs only feed on blood, so trash, uneaten food, or similar items do not attract them.
However, in your fight against bed bugs, you should start by cleaning and de-cluttering your home.
Because although this won’t outright kill the insects, it will make them easier to spot and eliminate because it gives them fewer places to hide.
Use a Mattress Encasement
Mattress encasements are a popular way to deal with bed bugs.
People love them because they are simple to use, kill bed bugs, and stop more insects from hiding out inside the mattress.
To use a mattress encasement, all you need to do is put it around your mattress and zip it up.
The bed bugs will become trapped inside, where they will eventually starve without a meal.
Vacuum Often
Although you probably won’t get rid of an entire infestation with only a vacuum cleaner, this tool will definitely help you eliminate lots of bed bugs.
All you need to do is vacuum your floors, mattresses, and other spots where bed bugs like to hide.
The insects will get sucked up in the vacuum cleaner, where it will be easy to dispose of them.
Remember, though, that vacuuming alone won’t kill the bed bugs.
Thus, you will need to place the contents of your vacuum cleaner into a plastic bag and then seal the top.
Or, if your vacuum has a bag, you can just remove it and tape the top closed.
Then, you can throw the captured bed bugs directly into the trash can.
Seal Up Cracks in Your Walls, Floors, and Ceilings
Since bed bugs like warm and dark places, they will live inside your walls, floors, and ceilings if they can.
Therefore, if you have bed bugs, you should seal up all the cracks, holes, or crevices in your home to prevent bed bugs from getting in.
Also, any bed bugs already inside the walls or floors will starve to death because they can’t escape and access a host.
Conclusion
Bed bugs can not multiply by themselves because they are not asexual.
They require a mate to have intercourse with before they can lay eggs.
However, bed bugs can multiply pretty fast, and all it takes is one pregnant female entering your home to start an infestation.
And since bed bugs stay pregnant pretty much all the time, if a female gets into your home, it will likely start a colony.
