WHERE THEY LIVE
LIFE CYCLE OF THE BED BUG
Bedbugs live in the crevices and joints of your mattress and furniture. To find them, you’ll need to check: • Headboards • Mattress seams • Divan beds – between the interconnecting beds • Slats of the bed • Behind the skirting board • Behind the wallpaper
Egg (1mm long).
First Stage Larva (1.5mm long) Takes a blood meal then molts.
Second Stage Larva (2mm long) Takes a blood meal then molts.
Third Stage Larva (2.5mm long) Takes a blood meal then molts.
HOW TO SPOT YOU’VE GOT A BEDBUG PROBLEM
Bedbugs live in the crevices and joints of your mattress and furniture. To find them, you’ll need to check: • Sightings – small bugs or tiny white eggs in the crevices of your mattress, headboard, divan bed etc • Bites on your skin – these are red blotches, often in a line, which are itchy. • Tiny black spots on your mattress – this could be their dried excrement. • Mottled Bedbug shells – also called exoskeletons. Bedbugs shed their skin as they grow. • Smell – unpleasant musty smell in your bedroom.
Fourth Stage Larva (3mm long) Takes a blood meal then molts.
Fifth Stage Larva (4.5mm long) Takes a blood meal then molts.
Adult (5.5mm long) Takes repeated blood meals over several weeks. Females lay up to 5 eggs per day, continuously.
Note Bed bugs take 3-10 minutes to complete feeding.
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