How Long Can Bed Bugs Go Without A Blood Meal?

Need to get rid of bed bugs? Read on to learn the answers to all of your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

What Is The Lifespan of a Bed Bug?

Like most other bugs, bed bugs begin their lives as eggs. Female bed bugs lay somewhere between 1 and 5 eggs a day and can lay up to 500 eggs over their lifetime. The female bed bug lays these eggs inside of the cracks and crevices of your bed, furniture or walls. 

If the conditions are right, meaning a room that is typically kept between 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, bed bugs can mature from the egg stage to fully mature adults in as little as a month. Adult females need a blood meal in order to lay their eggs.

Newly hatched bed bugs, or nymphs, change color from translucent to brown as they pass from one stage of maturity to another. First-stage nymphs must feed as often as possible to maintain the growth it needs to become an adult. 

A first-stage nymph can’t go for longer than 20 days without a blood meal before it will die of dehydration. Bed bugs need an ample supply of blood on which to feed or their maturation process can become prolonged. 

Temperature plays a role in how long a single bed bug may live. In cooler temperatures, a bed bug can survive up to a year. In temperature-controlled buildings, at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or more, a bed bug will live for between 2 to 6 months. 

Can Bed Bugs Live In An Empty House?

Baby bed bugs cannot live for very long without food, so an empty house probably couldn’t sustain a whole life for an infant bed bug. Juveniles and adult bed bugs, however, can live for months if the temperature and humidity levels are optimum. In laboratory conditions, bed bugs have been known to live for over a year without a meal. 

What this means is that it’s almost impossible to use starvation as an effective treatment plan for bed bugs. Even though bed bugs need your blood to live, you can’t just go on vacation for a few months and expect your bed bug problem solved. 

Do Bed Bugs Need Humans To Live?

Another reason that bed bug infestations are so tough to eliminate is that while they prefer to feed off of humans, if they are hungry enough, they will feed off other animals. This means that your dog or cat isn’t their primary target, but is still a possible meal. 

Call Pest Control Experts

If bed bugs are disturbing your sleep, don’t hesitate to call Pest Control Experts today. Bed bug infestations can be extremely difficult to eradicate. Don’t do it alone. Call on Pest Control Experts to take care of your bed bug problem today.