What do bed bugs eat and how often do they eat (drink blood)? What blood type do you like?

A long time ago, the inhabitants of stone caves experienced the torment of being close to bedbugs. A lot of time has passed since then, but the problem remains relevant. Modern apartments with European-quality renovation, luxurious mansions and expensive houses outside the bustle of the city - they are all susceptible to the invasion of these intrusive insects. It goes without saying that this situation leads to increased interest among relatively small vampires. But what do you personally know about bedbugs? Are you aware of the intricacies of their life and nutrition processes? If not, then sit back and go with us to get acquainted with the main enemy of modern man - the bedbug.

What do they eat?

House pests only drink human blood. Even if there is an animal, bedbugs will not eat it, the exception may be a period of prolonged absence of people in the room. Garden parasites love plants. Therefore, the question arises: what do bedbugs eat besides blood?

Garden pests are bugs that feed on plants. Parasites cause great damage to commercial crops in a short period of time. With the help of their thin proboscis, bugs suck out all the nutrients from the stem of the plant, and it dies.

Most wild individuals are unpretentious, but there are also gourmets. The stink bug loves cereals and berries, in particular raspberry bushes. In the absence of delicacies, he is able to eat grass, leaves, and the remains of other insects. Turtles love cereals, and toy soldiers love garden crops.

It is known that garden bugs are not dangerous to humans; in the house this species eats fruits and various plants.

But he cannot survive in this environment for long; without the opportunity to leave the premises, he dies.

Forest species live near rivers and lakes. They eat insects, arthropods, mollusks, larvae, and plants. Some subtypes can be beneficial in eating Colorado potato beetle clutches.

In the apartment

In the home, bed bugs are predominantly found, so the question of what bed bugs feed in the apartment does not arise. Parasites love only human blood.

In private homes, in the absence of a person, the owner's birds suffer: chickens, pigeons.

Unlike what domestic bugs feed on, street guests will not disdain indoor flowers and kitchen fruits during their stay in the house. But the parasites are not adapted to live long in such conditions, so they quickly die in captivity.

Bed sheets

The answer to the question of what indoor bed bugs eat is simple, their diet is poor, this includes only human blood. The smell of blood, carbon dioxide when exhaling, and body heat helps identify the victim.

Despite the fact that bedbugs drink blood, a female blood drinker in suspended animation can feed on unformed eggs located in her own body.

The larvae also feed on the substances of their egg, which allows them to develop.

Bed bugs live next to people, in pillows, blankets, mattresses, and skillfully hide in sofas and beds. Coming out at night to eat, after the meal they immediately retire back to their clutch.

Parasites also need food to activate the reproductive system. If a domestic bloodsucker, in the absence of people to preserve its vital functions, encroaches on an animal, then it will be able to survive, but reproduction will be interrupted for this period.

Also, parasites without food will not be able to move to new levels of development, reaching their peak as an adult.

Video

Where do bedbugs live in an apartment?

Are pets susceptible to bedbug bites?

Official information about insects of this species refutes a common myth: bed bugs never attack cats, dogs, guinea pigs and other domestic animals. In fact, everything is a little different here. If parasites have nothing to eat at all and the whole situation reaches critical levels, then they easily switch to domestic animals. However, your beloved cats and dogs can rest easy, because their dense coat blocks access to the capillaries. Similar difficulties arise with rats, so sooner or later bedbugs begin to leave territories that are useless to themselves, moving to the same neighbors.

Regarding country houses, it is worth highlighting the following situation: if you are raising a real farm outside the city, then most likely somewhere near the house there is a chicken coop with poultry. And they are precisely the “tidbit” for insects. Thin skin and areas on the body without feathers in the area of ​​​​the eyes and beak are a storehouse of nutrients for bedbugs.

Do they drink blood?

If you are interested in whether harmful bedbugs drink human blood, you should immediately specify their subspecies. Garden parasites live off plant products or insect remains. Household pests are bloodsuckers and cannot exist without human blood.

Bedbugs are nocturnal guests. Therefore, they feed in the evening, when the victim is sleeping. The time slot is between 3 and 8 am. Due to the presence of special enzymes in their secretion, the bite is painless.

Itching appears when the insect moves far from the victim, which prevents the bloodsucker from being caught at the meal site.

During the day, the bug drinks blood only if this is impossible to do at night. For example, the owner goes to work in the evening and goes to bed in the morning.

Feeding bed bugs: preferences and basic method

Bed bugs, regardless of their habitat, have a piercing-sucking type of mouthparts. The jaws are a small but very sharp proboscis with stilettos inside. The principle of their operation is very similar to scissors, and the 2 channels inside play an equally important role: one absorbs food, the other introduces the secretion of the salivary glands into the victim’s body. The latter contains simply a huge amount of different substances, including enzymes that digest proteins, a kind of anesthetics that allow a person not to feel pain during a bite, and much more.

The blood of a person or animal is the only and most favorite delicacy that these types of bedbugs cannot refuse. They attack their prey only in the dark, preferably from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., when sleep is especially sound. The parasites cannot cope with just one puncture of the skin, creating several wounds along one blood vessel at once. Bedbug bites are practically painless, and a sleepy person will certainly not understand what is happening to him at that moment. However, after a certain amount of time, the insects' saliva causes an unpleasant itching. In the future, this leads to allergic reactions or banal scratching of the damaged area until it bleeds.

By the way, it is worth noting that bed bugs prefer only hairless areas of the body. This is explained by the structural features of their body: a wide and flat abdomen prevents insects from penetrating through the hair. The groin area and head are a real obstacle for night hunters, so they choose the stomach, back, arms, thighs and face.

What blood type do they like?

Many people are interested in knowing which blood type bedbugs prefer. There is an opinion that parasites do not spare some people at all, while others may not be touched at all.

Bed bugs prefer to bite some people not based on what blood type they have, but based on the thickness of the skin, hair growth and other factors.

Bloodsuckers are not physiologically capable of determining other blood parameters. That is, insects bite equally in representatives of all groups, regardless of the Rh factor.

People have different body sensitivity to the bites of bloodsuckers, and not everyone can understand in the morning that they were attacked by a clan of bedbugs. When consuming blood, bedbugs drink it more often from women and children.

This is due to the thinness of the skin and the minimum amount of hair on the body. At the same time, parasites are attracted to the exhaled smell of carbon dioxide, which is more abundant in a massive man. Therefore, everyone is susceptible to bites without restrictions on age, gender or blood type.

Where do they live and where do they come from?

Linen bugs reproduce very quickly, so they spread to neighboring apartments that are not yet infested. The reason is overpopulation of habitats, lack of food. Other factors that contribute to the entry of bedbugs into an apartment:

• large-scale treatment of neighbors’ homes with insecticides, with some of the individuals spreading into neighboring homes;
• accidental entry: inside a bag, suitcase, along with equipment, clothing, furniture;
• on pet fur.

The main routes of penetration of bed parasites into the territory of a neighboring apartment:

• cracks on the floor, walls;
• communications (overlapping areas where pipes are supplied), ventilation ducts;
• leaks between the door frame and the supporting structures of the opening.

Insects enter a private home through things, because bedbugs do not have the habit of crawling out into the street in search of food.

You need to learn how to remove bed bugs: the first step is to find the nests of the parasites. They are found in different areas:

• first of all, they look for bedbugs near a person’s sleeping place;
• sockets;
• plinths (on the surface, from the inside);
• carpet (bottom side);

• frame and upholstered furniture;
• lighting fixtures and other equipment next to the bed;
• wall decorative elements;
• cabinets, cabinets, chests of drawers.

Parasites nest in beds

How to get rid of bedbugs at home

Activities that can be carried out independently without involving the sanitary and epidemiological station:

• general cleaning is carried out, which is the initial stage of the process of getting rid of bedbugs, during which nests of pests are discovered and traces of insect activity are removed;
• treat the surfaces with a vinegar solution (the ratio of vinegar and water is 1:1);
• an alternative method to repel parasites is based on the use of ammonia (add 1 tablespoon to a bucket of water), wash the floor with the resulting solution;
• When deciding how to get rid of bed bugs, you need to remember to move the furniture away from the walls, which will make it easier to find nests and clean up, as well as the procedure for applying anti-bed bugs.

The fight against bedbugs begins with general cleaning

How to treat bed linen

It is not recommended to use insecticidal preparations for this task; this may negatively affect the health of the residents of the apartment/house. Recommendations for processing bed linen:

• washing at high temperatures (from +60°C and above);
• drying when choosing a special program in the machine (duration – at least 20 minutes);
• ironing, while the iron in any mode will help destroy eggs that could not be destroyed by the first methods.

Bed linen should be washed at maximum temperature and ironed

How often do they eat

When wondering how often bed bugs feed, it is worth noting that much depends on the degree of development of the insect. Adults pierce the skin painlessly due to special secret enzymes. They are much more difficult to track.

But small parasites at the nymph stage do not yet have such an advantage; an unpleasant itching is immediately noticeable.

Periods of attacks most often occur from 2 to 6 a.m. during the deepest sleep. In the morning you can see a path of dots in the direction of the vessel. This is explained by the fact that it is easier for parasites to consume food from several wounds.

Traces of overnight guests in the form of red dots of blood may also remain on the bed. Bites are localized on open areas of the skin that are not equipped with hair.

How often a house bug feeds can be seen by its abdomen. In a hungry insect it is flat and light-colored. When blood enters the body, its volume increases and the color becomes darker. The larvae become scarlet and change greatly in size.

As a rule, a bedbug often feeds 1-2 times a week, then the insect is removed to the nest for digestion of food and subsequent reproduction.

Traditional methods????

You can wash infected items at a temperature of +90, which guarantees the complete destruction of bedbug eggs.
Moreover, it is important to wash items in this mode for 2 hours. Then the remedy will work if the infestation of the apartment is weak and the insects have not yet spread too much throughout the apartment

The steam generator destroys not only bedbugs, but also adult insects

Bedbug mixtures

Common recipes:

1. Turpentine - 0.3 l, the same amount of alcohol, camphor - 15 g. The components are mixed, the surfaces are treated with the prepared slurry and the nests are filled.
2. Kerosene and turpentine 0.02 l each. The substances are diluted with hot water (0.15 l).

Plants with a pungent odor

Tansy, wormwood, and lavender are used. These are the most common means of controlling house bugs. To get rid of parasites or prevent the appearance of insects at home, you need to use the named components to prepare a concentrated decoction. Then the surfaces are treated with this product.

You won’t be able to get rid of bedbugs using this method, but these substances effectively repel insects.

It is believed that the smell of wormwood and tansy is unbearable for bed bugs

Vinegar for bedbugs

This method only scares off adults. However, you can try pouring vinegar over a clutch of eggs. The nest is left in this form and changes are observed. Vinegar is aggressive. You need to wait as long as possible. Then the offspring of bedbugs are destroyed along with the rest of the parasites.

Vinegar is used as an additional means of combating bed bugs

How often do they drink blood?

To understand how often bed bugs feed, it is worth considering their age. An adult female eats 1-2 times a week and drinks up to 10 ml of blood at a time.

In hot climates, meals are required more often. The speed of their reproduction depends on how often bedbugs drink human blood. On average, a female lays up to 250 eggs during her life.

The male can get enough of 5-7 ml of blood, which is several times the insect’s own volume. The duration of the meal is 10-20 minutes, during this period the parasite makes 2-4 bites.

Larvae and nymphs eat little but often. This is necessary for a quick transition to a new level of development. Without food, all processes stop. Eggs can remain in suspended animation for up to 1 year. Vital functions are resumed when a victim appears nearby.

Stages of development from egg to adult bedbug

There are several main stages:

• the emergence of a larva from an egg - body length is 1 mm, and the color of the outer integument is milky;
• nymph – the size of the parasite is 1.5-4 mm, the color is darker (from light brown to a more saturated shade);
• imago - body length 5-8 mm, color of outer integument - brown.

The larval cycle includes 5 molting stages. This is a natural process of changing the appearance and acquiring new functions of the body. At each stage the nymph grows. The developmental leap provides the possibility of an increase of 0.5 mm (average).

Stages of bedbug development from egg to adult Bedbugs at different stages of development

Reproduction and lifespan

Bedbugs mate during the warm period of the year - in the spring, the first generation appears closer to summer. Some individuals produce 1 generation of young individuals, others more (2-3). Before mating begins, pests actively feed. After hibernation, they strive to increase their energy level, which will allow the female to lay a clutch; the male facilitates this. In one approach, the bug can leave 30-100 eggs on the leaf (from the back) or fruit.

Eggs

They are round-shaped formations, flattened on both sides. The edges of the lid are visible, through which the larvae emerge. Forest bug eggs reach 1-1.3 mm in length. Their color may vary, depending on the type of pest. For example, there are green and brown eggs. Sometimes these formations gradually darken as the end of embryo development approaches. Then the eggs acquire a more saturated shade.

Empty shells remain where they were. They are firmly secured with a special secretion that the females secrete during laying.

Laying eggs

Larvae

Insects do not enter the pupation stage. The larvae emerge from the eggs (shells). Young pests are characterized by the same size as eggs. But they develop quickly - in 1-1.5 months. There are up to 5 stages of molting. On each of them the insect grows up to 1-1.5 mm, sometimes less.

The larvae have not yet formed their outer coverings; the need for molting confirms this.

Externally, the larva is easy to distinguish from the imago. Despite some similarities, such pests are still very different from adult individuals. They are smaller, the color is also often different - darker and brighter. Young insects cannot fly or mate.

Forest bug larvae

The harmfulness of the green tree stink bug

The wood bug has a detrimental effect on the plants in which it settles. Small dark brown spots indicate that the bug has fed on the plant. But large trees and shrubs will not be so affected by the bug.

Often tree bugs leave the forest and move to nearby garden plots, where they feed intensively. The invasion of a large number of such insects can severely damage the crop. The bug especially loves to feed on raspberries. It leaves behind a trace of scent glands on the berries, which spoils the taste of the berries.

Sometimes, when there is a lack of food, the bug moves to agricultural crops (cereals) and feeds on them.

Very often, tree shield insects end up in apartments. They get in through open windows, vents, and doors. The stinkbug's mouthparts are not capable of biting through human skin, so you should not be afraid of these insects.

On a note:

Bed bugs, like all insects, are cold-blooded and when the air temperature drops, their body temperature also decreases. If it is cold enough, the insect's metabolism will slow down, and then the bugs will temporarily stop eating. The critical temperature at which bloodsuckers die is -22ºС.

The average lifespan of a bedbug is 18 months. If an insect hibernates, then its lifespan increases for the duration of hibernation.

This is interesting:

When bed bugs began to increase in the United States, many health departments and agencies were slow to respond to public complaints because bed bugs were not considered a public health problem and resources were not allocated to control them. Although they do not transmit disease, bed bugs still pose a health risk. Some people experience severe allergic reactions to parasite bites. Bites are especially disturbing when secondary infections are attached to the wounds. Then, it would seem, a small inflammation can turn into a strong abscess, which, when healing, will most likely leave a scar on the skin. Well, in general, the emotional stress of having a home infested with bedbugs can also negatively affect your health.