Bed Bug Size
and their Behaviour.
Bed Bugs FAQs
Question: What size range are Bed Bugs?
This image shows Bed Bug nesting spot in bed-frame. This is the perpendicular ledge where the box spring sits atop. You see quite many Bed Bugs, Their feces and Nymphs (baby Bed Bugs). Bed Bug Size ranges from when hatching from an egg through to 5 stages of growth and skin shed. As well female bed bug is larger than male.
Please click the image for full size.
Size: You can see the adults—they’re about 1/4” long.
A baby Bed Bug would feed on human blood just like the parent Bed Bug. However, a Baby Bed Bug could be 16 times smaller than the parent Bed Bug. And both of them in time would result in a wide scale infestation. Point is that a smaller Bed Bug does not mean a smaller problem. In that regard, missing to notice the presence of a smaller baby Bed Bug would bring about a heavier cost of consequences.
Behavior: Bed bugs crawl—scurrying into dark, tight spaces to hide—they move as fast as an ant. They can’t jump or fly and you’ll never find them burrowing into your skin. If the insect you have came out on its own accord at night when the lights were out near the bed or a couch, it was probably a bed bug looking for a meal. Bed bugs are not social insects like ants, so they don’t need a colony. But while they group together in good hiding spots, loners could be hiding elsewhere.
A picture is worth a thousand words so click and enlarge this image to see Red-Brown Bed Bugs, Black feces and white eggs. Notice difference in sizes as they are at varying life stages.
Now you can imagine a small and transparent looking baby Bed Bug being born from these white elongated eggs that have been cemented onto the surface – one at a time. And with the passage of time you can have all the elements of a full blown infestation – a large number of bed bugs at varying stages of life, the black feces markings and many many more eggs.
Baby Bed Bugs are called Nymphs. These will grow to become adults in about 5 weeks. They are ready to feed on your blood soon after birth. The more they feed the better their chances of becoming adults and laying more eggs.
You see their black feces ! It is dark color fluid in the beginning. If excreted onto a fabric, it would sometimes burst out into the fibers and would get absorbed and would leave a dark mark. If it is left onto a non-absorbent surface, with time, it will loose moisture and become solid – An extruding dot like mark. If smudged hard, it will leave a black streak.
