Bed Bug

(1st Instar)

Nymphs shed their skin five times before it reaches the maturity stage. They require a meal before each shedding. Depending on the condition, it will take about 21 days to a month before the nymphs develop into an Adult.

(2nd Instar to 4th Instar)

Baby Bed Bug or Young Nymphs Bed Bug can grow to about 0.5mm at each phase. Their growth to approximately 2mm to 4.5mm. It is common to see them shedding their skin and get significantly darker in colour.

Fully Developed Adult Bed Bug is the last stage of their life cycle. They will spend most of their time hiding, mating and for female Bed Bugs laying eggs.

Bed Bugs egg are about 1mm long, tiny, the size of a pinhead. Grain like and milky white in colour or pearl-white in colour. The female lay between one to 5 eggs each day as well as produce up to 500 eggs in one lifetime. Bed Bugs eggs are laid singly or in a cluster marked by an eye spot if more than five days old.

They require about seven to ten days to hatch into Nymphs. They young are also called Bed Bug Nymphs and generally smaller, translucent or whitish-yellow in colour. And if they have not fed, can be nearly invisible to the eye because of colour and size.

Adult Bed Bugs are usually about the size of an apple seed 5 to 7mm in length. Long and beige to brown in colour, with a flat, oval shape body.

They are attracted to carbon dioxide produced by their victims. They prefer to feed at night on bare skin that is exposed during sleep. They will still feed on a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily infested Bed Bug situation. Bed Bugs feed on other warm-blooded as well but prefers to feed on the blood of humans.

Bed Bugs normally need 5 to 10 minutes to feed for a blood meal. They feed by inserting two hollow needle tubes into their host. The first will tube will inject their saliva that will act as an anaesthetic. This will numb the feeding area and second tube is to draw blood.

And after their blood meal, they hide for 5 to 10 days to digest their meal, mate and lay eggs.

Perimeter of bed, seams and mattress tag and in the box spring. They hide in cracks and corners on the bed frame and headboard. In the seams of chairs and sofas, between cushion pillows, in the curtains. They can be found in drawer, electrical sockets, under wall papers and wall corners.

Their dropping are dark coloured spots approximately this size • and they may bleed on the fabric like a marker would. When cleaning and changing of bedsheet, keep a look for these signs on the fabric. Their waste is typically dark reddish brown, rust or even black colour stain.

Eggs are laid on rough surfaces and visible to the naked eyes commonly within the cracks and crevices. The eggshells, which are small approximately 1mm and light yellow in colour that Nymphs shed as they grow larger.

The rusty or red stains on bedsheets and mattresses are commonly caused by Bed Bugs being squashed. They leave very clear marks along the side of door frame and power sockets and more along a blood meal area. Tiny blood stains on your bedsheets, upholstered furniture, pillow cases as well as pyjamas are also signs that a Bedbug infestation..

Like many insects, Bedbugs will release an odour that musty sweetish when disturbed. This is called “alarm pheromones”. Although some compare the scent to berries, it can be unpleasant to the nose at higher concentrations.