Nothing is worse than feeling uncomfortable in your own home, but that’s what pests will do to you. When it comes to pests that bite and multiply, it can make anyone feel like they’re going crazy.
Fossilized bed bugs were found as many as 3,500 years ago. They were even used to cure common ailments. The Romans and Greeks burned them to make leeches release their hold, and Egyptians would drink them to cure snakebites.
In the 1940s, the pesticide DDT was so successful at eradicating bed bugs that their existence was minimal for almost 30 years.
Anyone who has bed bugs wants to know, how fast do bed bugs spread?
Keep reading to find out all about them!
Why Do Bed Bugs Infiltrate?
Often referred to as “silent pests,” bed bugs are back. While there was a time in which people thought they were eradicated, in the last decade, they’ve been making a comeback.
Bed bugs infiltrate a home because they need to feed off blood to survive. While they sometimes bite dogs and other warm-blooded animals, they prefer the taste of human blood.
For the most part, they strike at night while humans are sleeping. They inflict a painless bite while they drink several drops of blood.
While they aren’t known to carry any infectious diseases, bed bugs can still cause allergic reactions to their saliva. Their bites leave itchy and red bumps that are similar to flea or mosquito bites.
Bed bugs like dark places, which is why they’re sometimes found in movie theaters too.
Where Do They Live?
Bed bugs hide in a myriad of spots throughout a home. While they can often be found on mattresses, box springs, and bed frames, they also live in many inaccessible places, like inside furniture, picture frames, behind baseboards, and even in electronics.
Unfortunately, bed bugs can go for months without feeding, which makes them difficult to control and find.
When they live outside, bed bugs infest the nests of bats, birds, and other animals.
They can enter a house, an apartment building, or a hotel by hiding in clothing, fabric, and luggage.
How Fast Do They Reproduce?
Once bed bugs find their new home, they reproduce quickly.
Female bed bugs lay between 1 and 5 eggs per day. Those tiny eggs are no bigger than a poppy seed, which makes them hard to find too.
In her entire life, a female bed bug lays about 200 to 250 eggs.
One they hatch, baby bed bugs (nymphs) require only one blood feast to molt and continue to their next stage of development. After 5 stages of development, bed bugs reach adulthood.
It takes the nymphs around a month to 6 weeks to reach maturity, depending on the environment in which they live and the availability of blood to feed on.
Within a year, there could be 3 generations of bed bugs.
Even though bed bugs don’t multiply nearly as fast as houseflies, for example, almost 100% of their laid eggs are viable, which helps them spread more quickly.
Plus, the female bed bugs coat their eggs with a sticky goo that makes them almost impossible to dislodge.
Their Locations Spread Quickly
Once bed bugs are in your home, they will often spread from room to room, or even from 1 apartment to another.
If you find them in your bedroom and opt to sleep on the couch to escape their bites, they’ll find you after a couple of nights as their thirst for blood increases.
They move through door frames, holes, or cracks in the walls, windows, ceilings, and floors.
They contaminate wood furniture by laying eggs in recesses and cracks. When that furniture is moved, they may hatch in the furniture’s new location.
The eggs can stay viable for years, which is why if they’re found in your home, you should contact an exterminator right away.
How Fast Do They Move?
Bed bugs can’t fly. They don’t have wings. But they can crawl at a pretty steady pace.
Bed bugs can travel 3 to 4 feet per minute on almost all surfaces. For their size, that’s the equivalent of an adult human sprinting.
This is one of the reasons why it’s so easy for bed bugs to travel between rooms and floors, and consistently find new hiding spots.
What Are the Signs of Bed Bugs?
If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night itching, or you wake up with bites you didn’t have when you went to bed, you might have bed bugs in your home.
If you suspect an infestation, here are some additional signs to look for:
- Bed bug eggshells, fecal spots, or shed skins
- A musty odor around your bed or other areas where you think they might live
- Bloodstains on your pillowcases or sheets
- Rusty or dark spots of bed bug fecal matter on mattresses and sheets, and walls
Remove all your bedding and check all parts of your bed thoroughly for signs of bed bugs. Exam the seams on your mattress and box spring and check your bed’s frame.
Call bed bug pest control to confirm your suspicion and get rid of those bed bugs as soon as possible!
How Fast Do Bed Bugs Spread?
When it comes to bed bugs, all it takes is 1 pregnant female to infest a home.
If you suspect you have bed bugs, do not wait to call a professional bed bug pest control service.
How fast do bed bugs spread? Too fast! Even though they don’t lay as many eggs as other bugs, almost every egg makes it to the nymph stage and beyond.
Contact us today for any questions or to get a quote. We have options to work with any budget.