Not fairy nymphs: all about bed bug larvae

• Features of the reproduction of domestic bugs
• What does nympha look like?
• Five larval instars
• Bedbug larva feeding
• How to find larvae?
• Differences from juveniles of other parasites
• Destruction of bed bug larvae
• Danger of larvae
• When are nymphs good and bad?
• Why are nymphs difficult to breed?
• Which insecticides have an ovicidal effect?
• How to properly get rid of larvae?
• What are the best remedies for bedbug larvae?

One of the most unpleasant features of linen or bed bugs is their incredible fertility. Insects form large populations in record time. The danger is posed not only by adult bedbugs, but also by bedbug larvae. They are also called nymphs, but a detailed description of the appearance of these creatures leads far away from the association with beautiful fairy-tale characters.

Features of the reproduction of domestic bugs

Synanthropic insects live off human blood. This nutrient medium promotes the rapid development of “embryos” in the female’s body. The better the adult feeds, the faster the egg, ready for laying, matures.

The female bedbug is fertilized once in her life. The seminal fluid is consumed gradually; the individual is capable of producing offspring throughout its life after one fertilization. The female lays 4-10 eggs per day; a very well-fed individual can lay 20, and over the course of her life – up to 500.

Domestic sofa bed bugs are insects with an incomplete transformation cycle. This means that there is no stage of pupal formation; larvae immediately emerge from the egg, which over time become sexually mature parasites.

Predator bug

There are up to 7 thousand species of similar types of bedbugs. About 90 species are found in the CIS countries, and the rest inhabit the territory of Europe, North America, Africa and other countries. Predators are larger in size, with some exceptions. Body color can be very diverse. The photo shows that the colors can be both classic and bright, which is typical for tropical latitudes.

In our area, predators are found everywhere, both in forests and fields, and in human dwellings or outbuildings. During the daytime they stay in shelter, and at night they go out hunting. Their diet includes other insects or the blood of small animals. Larger relatives inhabiting the tropics can also feast on human blood.

The insect class is the most numerous class on planet Earth. There are so many species, subspecies, families that the information is simply overwhelming. It is possible that there are still species of living beings unknown to modern science.

Judging from the information, bedbugs are unique living creatures. At the same time, there are species that annoy humans, as they prefer to feed on human blood. There are also species that do not pose any danger to humans, feeding on plant juices.

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What does nympha look like?

The offspring of blood-sucking insects are similar to adults; they are almost exact copies of adult parasites. It is for this reason that the entomological term “nymphs” is applied to them, meaning that the body structure is very similar to adult individuals. The difference is that adult insects have stripes on their bodies that are invisible in their offspring.

External characteristics and structure of the larvae:

• flat body, somewhat rounded in satiated individuals;
• transparent yellowish color. Because of the color on unpainted wooden surfaces, creatures may not be noticed; they blend into the surface;
• three pairs of limbs on the chest;
• antennae necessary for searching for food, acting like antennas;
• scent glands on the lower abdomen.

Looking at the drawing of apartment nymphs, you can notice all the described structural elements, but these are macro photographs. On a light mattress or in a sofa box, you may not notice them with the naked eye, but you may not understand that this entity is insects.

The incubation period, under favorable conditions, lasts 5-7 days, then, after breaking through the shell of the egg, the larvae are born. Before becoming a sexually mature insect, nymphs go through five stages of development.

Sizes of bedbug nymphs

As the larva grows, its body increases in size and it becomes more noticeable and more similar to adult bedbugs. If an adult has a body length of 5-6 mm, then the body length of a nymph ranges from 1-4 mm. Moreover, if adult bugs are brown, then the nymphs are either yellow with a translucent body, or crimson-red if they have just fed. They need to be distinguished only from eggs - they are white and similar to grains of rice - and from excrement - they are round and black, similar to fixed points.

By the way, hungry nymphs may not be noticed, for example, on an unpainted tree, on the same bed frame, because they blend in with it in color. But the engorged nymphs are very clearly visible, they simply look like running droplets of blood.

If you look at the nymph at all, you can see through the covering of her body the stomach, the black contents of her intestines and other internal organs. When such a larva sucks blood, you can see how this blood flows into the stomach.

Five larval instars

Immediately after emerging from the egg, the nymph has very soft covers, the body is almost transparent, its length is up to one and a half mm. All that is noticeable on the individual is the red eyes located on the sides of the head. The bug nymph spends five to six days in this form.

Further periods of development:

• over the next 5-7 days, the length of the body increases to 2 mm, the color becomes brown, short hairs and antennae grow, and the nymph can already search for the victim. Towards the end of the period, the first molt occurs;
• in the third period of life, the bedbug larva grows to 2.5 mm. The nymph is capable of fully biting people and feeding on their blood. Unlike adults, at this stage of development the offspring are not capable of rapid movement due to poorly developed limbs;
• at the fourth stage, adequate blood nutrition ensures growth of up to 3 mm. Over the course of five days, the nymph gains energy and prepares for the next molt. The rudiments of wings form on the body;
• at the stage before the imago, the “growth” of the nymph is 4-5 mm. They actively feed, and after saturation with blood, the brown color changes to red. If you turn on the light suddenly at night, the insect is easy to spot.

After molting for the last time, the larva becomes an imago, ready for mating. Adult males are somewhat smaller than females and their bellies are flatter. Throughout life, they can still increase in size, but they no longer molt. The life cycle of nymphs gives an affirmative answer to the question of whether the larvae bite. They are able to do this starting from the second life period.

Nutrition is the main condition for the development of parasites. They cannot progress to the next stage unless they receive blood. The frequency of meals is once every few days.

Bedbug larvae also bite

The parasitic lifestyle is typical for both adults and nymphs. The mouthparts are adapted to piercing the skin and sucking blood, so the larvae also bite.

How the larvae bite:

1. The parasite's jaws resemble piercing bristles in appearance.
2. To get into the desired artery, the larvae perform several bites, leaving numerous marks.
3. After each night their number increases.

When a sexually mature bug attacks, it injects the victim with a substance that has an anesthetic effect. Due to the underdevelopment of the glands, nymphs lack this feature, so their bites are more painful.

Bedbugs prefer areas of the body with delicate skin. More often, bites are found on the face, neck, back, and limbs. They should not be combed, otherwise there is a high probability of infection in the wounds. To relieve itching and inflammation the following are used:

• antihistamines;
• lotions;
• traditional medicine (soothing herbs);
• ointments.

If there are no complications, the bites go away on their own within 3 days.

How to find larvae?

You should look for “young” parasites in the same place as adults. If you suspect a colony, carefully examine:

• mattress seams;
• upholstery, back panels, box, folds of the sofa;
• joints of wallpaper and baseboards;
• gaps between walls and baseboards;
• spaces between walls and paintings;
• all the furniture in the bedroom;
• the back of household appliances;
• chests of drawers where bed linen is stored;
• folds in clothes.

Parasites can live on any of the items listed. You need to look for the individuals themselves, their excrement, and the remains of the chitinous cover.

How to avoid parasites?

• If you want to free your apartment from bloodsuckers as quickly as possible, then you should be careful when choosing temporary places where there may be clusters of bedbugs. First of all, such places are considered to be cheap hotels and houses with unsanitary conditions. In addition, do not invite people into your home whose apartment may harbor parasites. It is enough to bring one or two individuals into your home, and very soon they will give birth to an entire population.
• Also make it a rule to regularly carry out wet cleaning in your home, check all furniture, including sofas and beds, as well as other sleeping places for the presence of traces of bedbugs. Wash your bedding at least once a week. And this must be done in hot water.
• To keep bloodsuckers away from you and not come from your neighbors, make sure that you have birch brooms and bouquets of dried tansy in different corners of the premises.

Differences from juveniles of other parasites

Unfortunately, in an apartment there may be not only parasites of the order of bedbugs, but also other adult and young harmful insects. Remember their “signs”:

• the offspring of cockroaches are larger in size, darker in color, and the antennae are longer;
• Young ticks have no whiskers, have 4 pairs of legs, and have a round body shape;
• the offspring of ants have a clear division of the body into two sections, the bottleneck is visually indicated;
• small fleas have an elongated body; they do not run, but jump.

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Read further:

Bedbug bite in a child and an adult: what it looks like and how you can get rid of it

Life cycle of bed bugs reproduction in an apartment

Roundworms: size, color, nature of movements, shape of eggs and larvae

No to ticks: where to order insect repellent treatment?

How long does a mosquito live: life expectancy, after a bite, in an apartment

How to effectively and permanently remove bed bugs from your apartment

Danger of larvae

There are always more developing individuals in the apartment than adults. The development period of the offspring is about a month, i.e. already after this period, the first descendants of the female begin to reproduce. There is no threat to insects in your home: there are no parasites that could destroy them, there is food and secluded places for nests. Every night, several dozen adult bedbugs and maturing parasites bite members of your family. They, growing up, are essentially more dangerous than adult parasites; they live in the same place and lead the same lifestyle.

Another cunning trick of nymphs is that under unfavorable external conditions they fall asleep. It only takes the temperature to drop below 15℃ for this to happen. This feature is misleading. Owners may think that they have gotten rid of bedbugs, but as soon as the temperature rises, they will wake up and begin to reproduce.

The fivefold molting of young individuals does not pass without a trace. Remains of chitinous coating on bedding, sleepwear, and bedroom furniture can cause allergic reactions, rhinitis, and asthma. The shed skins outnumber the adult dead bedbugs (if they have started to poison them). If they are found, they must be carefully removed with a vacuum cleaner and the room must be treated with suitable preparations.

Nymphs as a cause of allergies

In addition, during its development, it changes its chitinous covers 5 times. The dry skins remaining from them are destroyed over time and mixed with dust, and when air moves, they can rise and enter the human respiratory tract.

These skins contain very aggressive allergens, which often cause chronic rhinitis with runny nose and nasal congestion, dermatitis. And over time, such chronic rhinitis without treatment provokes the development of asthma.

Here, in a cluster of bedbugs, numerous remains of their chitinous coverings are visible:

And in this regard, larvae are much more dangerous than adult bedbugs: each larva leaves behind 5 skins, and there are more of these larvae in the room than adults. That is, even the remains of dead bugs are less numerous than the discarded chitinous covers of the larvae.

Consequently, they are the ones who leave the largest number of allergens in the house, and if they live here for a long time, then the amount of these allergens constantly increases exponentially.

When are nymphs good and bad?

Immature offspring are sensitive to temperature changes. Low and high temperatures kill bedbug larvae. The lower limit is minus 17 degrees, the upper limit is plus 45.

Humidity also matters. Human blood provides the necessary water balance for insects, but when air humidity is low, the skin dries out.

Insects make nests as close as possible to food, to a person’s sleeping place, because they are weak in covering long distances. The presence of places near the bed where you can settle is a favorable factor for the development of the colony, the absence is negative.

So, if you want to create unbearable living conditions for blood-sucking insects:

• arrange a “cooling” or “warming up”;
• maintain humidity less than 60%;
• make cosmetic repairs, after which there would be no potential places for the colony to settle.

Bedbugs - symptoms of infection

House bugs are insidious insects. They do not give themselves away in any way in the first days of their existence. Bites on the body are mistaken for fleas, mosquitoes or other insects that are not so harmful. At this time, insects actively reproduce and colonize the territory at night. By the time you finally find them, they have already settled into your home.

What should you pay attention to?

The very first and main sign of the presence of parasites. Bedbugs on the human body leave a characteristic bite mark in the form of a path. This is explained by the fact that to obtain the required amount of food they need to make about 7 skin punctures. Bed bugs – and their bites cannot be confused with anything else. Look at the photo to see what it looks like.

They bite painlessly. An analgesic is administered to dull the pain. Choose places where the skin is most sensitive:

• neck;
• hands;
• legs;
• shoulders;
• face,
• less often the back.

The reaction to bites depends on the individual characteristics of the body. In 20% of people they do not manifest themselves at all. For others, it’s a series of pimples that itch a lot. Still others need urgent help due to a severe allergic reaction. In the photo you can see a clear example of a night attack.

Stains on bedding appear for two reasons:

• After the bite, the blood from the wound continues to bleed and smear the bed.
• Linen bugs, having had their fill, become clumsy and vulnerable. With your movements, you can crush them, and the blood can get on the sheet.

The photo shows a clear picture.

Waste products. You can notice them due to their quantity, since they themselves are very small in size, 0.5–1 mm. Traces from bedbugs remain in places where they accumulate or in close proximity to them.

How it looks, look at the photo.

1. Traces of shedding

Bed bugs are susceptible to molting. Husks and skins remain near the insect nest. If you managed to see such a picture, you are on the right track. See photo for what it looks like.

When a room is heavily infested, a cloying, sweetish smell begins to appear. Reminds me of the smell of rotten raspberries or almonds. Furniture bugs have scent glands. They emit a scent to repel enemies and when reproducing. If you suddenly smell such a smell, it’s time to start searching in earnest.

Why are nymphs difficult to breed?

After insecticidal treatment of the apartment, the owners are confident that their troubles are over. But bedbug eggs are very resistant to poisons. They can survive and give rise to a new population. It is for this reason that independent attempts to get rid of the population fail. A number of other negative factors that allow members of the population to remain indoors:

• a few young bugs were able to avoid contact with the poisonous drug and remained alive, therefore, they will reproduce;
• not all insect routes have been treated;
• the drug was chosen incorrectly and had no effect on the eggs.

To permanently eliminate the problem, it is better to contact professional exterminators.

How to detect bedbugs at night?

Bedbugs go hunting at night, but it is better for people to hunt them during the day. Otherwise, the forces are unequal. Therefore, we recommend doing nothing at night, except perhaps smear yourself with perfume with a strong lavender scent, and launch an attack on uninvited guests in daylight.

Bright light

If you wake up at night sweating, thinking that you have been bitten by a bug, then turn on a bright light. You probably won't see the bug, but it's unlikely to bite you again if you sleep with the lights on.

Flashlight

You will need a flashlight more during the day than at night. It’s good for them to shine light into cracks to detect bedbugs. “Night vision” flashlights have also appeared on sale, which allow you to detect a bug in the dark and not scare it away. However, why do you need these experiments? You can detect traces of bedbugs by indirect signs, and then begin the day's all-out hunt.

Plate or bank card

Sometimes there are recommendations to use a bank card to check narrow cracks in order to scrape out bedbugs or their eggs. But this is too disrespectful of money and a bank card. It’s better to use it to buy a good bedbug killer.

Which insecticides have an ovicidal effect?

To destroy bedbug eggs, experts recommend using insecticides based on malathion, fenthion, and chlorpyrifos. Receiving good reviews:

• "Agran";
• "Force site";
• "Fufanon-Super".

Another effective group of drugs for killing eggs are pyrethroids. The most famous:

• "Tetracine";
• "Cypermethrin."

Traditional methods of fighting insects can scare away mature individuals, but have no effect on parasite eggs.

Features of nutrition and digestion

Bedbug nymphs have piercing-sucking mouthparts. The bug, with the help of a bundle of mandibles and maxillae located in the food canal, is firmly attached to the skin. With jagged mandibles, it clings deeply to the skin, pierces it and pushes the maxillae into its thickness, reaching the blood vessel. In addition to the alimentary canal, the oral organs form a channel through which the contents of the salivary glands, rich in enzymes that prevent blood clotting and have an analgesic effect, are injected into the victim’s body.

The digestion of food in bedbugs, like many ectoparasites, depends largely on the presence of symbiont bacteria in the digestive system. If the bacteria die, the larvae stop developing after the second or third molt and die.

The legs of bed or house bugs are only running, but adult individuals move quite quickly. Due to the fact that the larvae move more slowly, they remain on the human body for only 5-10 minutes. During this time, the first instar nymph drinks 0.3 mg of blood. With each growth, this amount increases, and the imago can drink up to 7 mg of the victim’s blood at a time. The photo shows bedbug larvae.

Appearance

Bedbug larvae sense the beating of blood in the vessels, so they pierce the skin several times over the capillary, forming tracks of 3-5 bites. This is what distinguishes bedbug bites from the random bites of other blood-sucking insects. An adult parasite feeds once every 1-1.5 weeks. The larvae require much more blood to metamorphose, so they may bite prey daily.

Bites

Bites from bedbug larvae occur with equal frequency in both sexes and do not depend on blood type. By carefully examining what bedbug larvae look like, you can determine by the color of their abdomen how long ago they fed. Nymphs that have just “dined” have a bright red color. Gradually the blood coagulates, darkens and after a few hours the color becomes brown, and after a few days it becomes black. Larvae can survive without food for only 7-8 days, while the adult generation can survive 18-20 days without food.

How to properly get rid of larvae?

The mass market offers drugs that are effective against adults, but do not have an ovicidal effect. Those. After processing the premises, the eggs will remain viable. Specialized sanitary teams are able to quickly find nests and use products that affect the masonry. Drugs with a strong residual effect are effective for a certain period of time, so after this period there will be no uninvited guests left with a guarantee.

If necessary, exterminators carry out repeated treatment, and choose the correct period of time for this: two weeks after the first. If this is done earlier, there is a danger that viable eggs will remain and they will produce offspring after the second treatment. If you miss the two-week period, the surviving adults can lay a second clutch.

Pay attention to the rating of companies that perform disinfestation in apartments and houses, in offices and institutions. Based on customer reviews, you can find a contractor with favorable conditions and get rid of the hated parasites and their offspring forever.

At what temperature do bedbug eggs die?

It is difficult to kill bedbugs on your own. This requires special equipment and professional insecticides.

Irreversible processes inside the protective shell begin to develop at a temperature of +55 - 30 degrees. The temperature should be stable and last for at least a day. Short temperature changes do not cause them any harm. When exposed to critical frost or high temperature above +55, death occurs instantly. In domestic conditions, it is almost impossible to achieve such indicators. Professional services use equipment that allows them to act on insects and their eggs with a double blow: insecticides and high temperature. Thanks to an integrated approach, the death of the entire population occurs within a few hours.

Ventilating the apartment in cold weather or turning off heating electrical appliances for several days in winter will not help get rid of eggs. In summer, it is almost impossible to achieve a stable temperature in the apartment above 30 degrees. Fighting on your own will not bring results.

When fighting bedbugs, after disinfestation, it is recommended to wash, iron, and treat with a steam generator at maximum temperature all linen, textiles, and furniture that is possible. This will help clear it of possible insect eggs.

Where do parasite larvae hide?

The bedbug is a heat-loving creature. The insect does not tolerate drafts, high humidity, or bright light. Always hides in a dark, warm place. Since the source of food is a sleeping person, they build their nest in the bedroom. In case of severe infestation, they can settle in another part of the room. The most typical place where larvae hide is a bed, mattress, sofa. Small creatures crawl into the joints of furniture, bed frames, seams, and folds of the soft part of the bed. But don't delude yourself. Parasites can be more sophisticated and hide anywhere:

• from the back of the furniture;
• in canteens, shelves;
• books;
• toys;
• paintings;
• decor items;
• carpets;
• photographs;
• hours;
• household appliances;
• lamps;
• in sockets;
• under the wallpaper;
• laminate;
• in flower pots.

To find the nest, you will have to work hard and turn the entire apartment upside down.

Stages of development from egg to adult bedbug

A feature of bed bug reproduction is traumatic fertilization. The male's genital organ has a sharp tip, with which he pierces any part of the female's body. The injected sperm are transported through the hemolymph flow into a special Berlese organ, characteristic only of bed bugs. It is used not only for long-term storage of sperm, but also for regeneration of the female’s body after injury.

With the flow of hemolymph, the seminal fluid migrates into the ovarioles, where the eggs are fertilized. Over the course of its entire life, one female can lay about 500 oblong eggs, equipped with a cap for the larvae to emerge. The number of eggs depends on the amount of sperm entering the body, ambient temperature and nutrition.

During the day, the female lays an average of 5 eggs, which in appearance resemble a tiny transparent capsule. A durable sticky shell reliably protects the embryo from external influences and chemicals. Most effective insecticides do not destroy eggs; they can be eliminated either mechanically or using temperature control. Destructive temperatures for bedbugs and oviposition: -20°C, +50°C.

Already 3-4 days after the fertilized eggs are laid, the first generation larvae appear. An adult can live up to a year in favorable temperature conditions. Even one female bedbug is capable of founding a large colony.

On the abdominal segments of bedbug larvae there are glands that produce a secretion with a specific odor. In adult parasites, these glands are located on the metathorax. The secret contains:

• pheromones - to attract individuals of the opposite sex;
• indications of the presence of a food object - pheromones of the “food trail”;
• danger warning – alarm pheromones.

The glands also produce kairomones, substances that repel predators. When there is a large population of bedbugs, their specific smell is strongly felt. What is unique is that during feeding, the larvae secrete pheromones that attract “relatives” to the “table”, and when they finish feeding, they release kairomones that repel predators.

One week passes between the next molting of the larva and its transition to the next stage of development. The entire development cycle takes 1-2 months in favorable conditions, and when the temperature drops it can stretch up to 80-100 days.

The main difficulties encountered in the process of destroying nymphs

Once again, we repeat that bedbug larvae look like grains of rice.

slightly curved shape. The dom. larvae appear to be just as miniature. Upon closer inspection, you will find that they have a small dark spot on one side. This is where the exit for the mature individual is located.

Why do you need a cold fog generator?

Those who have encountered bedbugs in their lives know how difficult it is to kill them. And the more difficult task is

destruction of nymphs. Typically, adults can be killed using strong chemicals. They do not take larvae because they have a strong shell. They tolerate the effects of poisons well and continue to develop.

If you don't want to spend months fighting bedbug larvae

, you need to make sure that all nymphs and adults are exterminated. Otherwise, you will simply waste time, effort and money. If at least one young female remains, she will constantly lay eggs, from which new insects will subsequently appear.