How Long Do Bed Bug Eggs Take To Hatch?

Need to get rid of bed bugs? Read on to learn the answers to all of your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

Bed Bugs Are Efficient Breeders

It’s always best to find bed bug infestations early on, before they become established or spread to other rooms. Treating a new or small infestation is cheaper and easier than treating it after it becomes more entrenched. 

Bed bugs are particularly quick and efficient breeders with numbers that can increase rapidly in a number of weeks. On top of that, bed bug eggs are hardy. It doesn’t take much time for a few bed bugs to become an out of control infestation. 

Can You See Bed Bug Eggs?

After mating, female bed bugs lay eggs into tiny cracks and crevices near their feeding area. The eggs are laid separately or in clusters. These eggs are white and oval and are about 1/6th of an inch long, about the size of two grains of salt. For this reason, bed bug eggs are very difficult to detect with the naked eye—you typically need some magnifying device to be able to see them. Once they have been laid, they are very sticky and will cling to almost any surface, even upside down. Bed bug eggs are easily transported from one location to another stuck on shoes, luggage or even clothing.

The Short Life of a Bed Bug Egg

A female bed bug can lay between 1 and 5 eggs a day, though she is only capable of laying eggs after having fed on a blood meal. An adult female bed bug can live for up to an average of one year, and in that time can lay upwards of 500 eggs. 

It takes about 6 to 10 days for bed bug eggs to hatch. In the best of conditions, bed bug eggs have an extremely low mortality rate, with about 97 percent of eggs surviving to hatch successfully. Once hatched, the newly emerged nymph bed bugs will immediately seek out a blood meal. Bed bugs, in optimal conditions, typically have a short maturation process and can reach full adulthood and begin their own reproductive cycle within 5 to 6 weeks. 

Finding Help For Bed Bugs 

With such a propensity to lay so many eggs that easily survive to propagate the cycle again, it is imperative that if you spot any bed bug eggs or other signs of bed bugs that you reach out to a pest control specialist as soon as you’ve spotted the problem. Pest Control Experts is here to make choosing a pest professional as easy as matching you on our website with the right specialist in your area. Check us out today!