There are probably two questions on your mind if you have bed bugs in your home: “What do bed bug eggs look like? As well as “Where are bed bugs known to lay eggs?” Let’s look at the answers to both questions.
They usually lay their eggs in warm, dark places, such as the inside of mattresses and walls, instead of on humans. A bed is the most common place to find bed bug eggs since bed bugs usually feed on humans.
The bed provides them with the perfect place to hide and create a nest for their eggs, since it is so close to their human hosts.
Most commonly, they are found at mattress seams and joints, but they can also be found on box springs and behind headboards, if they are attached to or butted against walls.
Where Are Bed Bug Eggs Found?
In order to feed or lay eggs, bed bugs do not travel far inside a structure once they are inside. A protected site, as close to a food source as possible, is the most common place for eggs to be laid.
A business card-sized crack is the minimum thickness these pests need to lay eggs, so they can lay them almost anywhere.
Since bedbugs feed on humans, their eggs are commonly found next to or on beds.
The most common place to find them is on the seams and joints of the mattress, but they are also often found on the box spring and behind the headboard if it butts up against the wall.
Red or black specks may also be seen near these sites. Bed bug feces contain partially digested blood, which is why these markings appear.
Pheromone secretions from bed bugs’ scent glands may cause a pungent, sweet or musty odor when concentrations are high, indicating an infestation.
Where Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs?
Bed mattresses and furniture cushions are commonly the sites where these aptly named bugs lay their eggs.
These areas are preferred by bed bugs because they are dark, safe, and near humans or animals. It is also possible for bed bugs to lay their eggs in walls, baseboards, and floorboards.
Despite the fact that bed bugs usually lay eggs in mattresses, they can also be found under mattress buttons, under mattress tags, and even in frames of beds.
Signs Of Bed Bug Eggs
By looking out for these bed bug egg signs early on, you can identify bed bugs:
- There are tiny white clusters of bed bug eggs in the seams of the mattress
- There is a foul odor coming from the mattress or the surrounding area
- There are rust-colored spots on the mattress
- A mattress crawling with apple seed-sized bed bugs
- The mattress was crawling with smaller, white nymphs
- When you wake up in the morning, you have baby bed bug bites all over your body
What Do Bed Bug Eggs Look Like?
The bed bug eggs are so small that they resemble tiny grains of rice and measure about 1 millimeter in length. At one end, they have a hinged cap. A bed bug egg can be creamy white or pale yellow in color.
In eggs that are more than five days old, a dark mark resembling an eye will be visible on them.
These insects can easily hide in mattresses, especially if the fabric is light in color. Their size and color allow them to blend in with some of their favorite hiding places.
Females will adhere their eggs to almost any surface they place them on because of the sticky substance covering their eggs.
It takes approximately 10 days for bed bug eggs to hatch successfully, whether they are single eggs or groups of eggs.
Depending on the temperature, the hatching time may vary. Hatching may take longer when the temperature is cooler.
Eggs from males and females are usually around the same number. A bed bug population can double every 16 days under ideal conditions due to the fact that females are capable of producing a large number of eggs.
Can You See Bed Bug Eggs?
A bed bug egg, although small, can still be seen without a microscope. A bed bug egg is roughly one millimeter long, or about the size of a pinhead.
Because female bed bugs lay their eggs in clusters, you may be able to see their eggs more easily. It is easier to detect these tiny eggs before they hatch if they are grouped together. Usually, they hatch within seven to ten days.
Facts About Bed Bugs
You will have an easier time eliminating bed bugs from your home if you know more about them. Baby bed bugs have the following characteristics:
- An average of one to five eggs are laid each day by female bed bugs.
- In their lifetime, female bed bugs can lay up to 500 eggs.
- Human blood is the food source of baby bed bugs, just as it is for adult bed bugs.
- The feeding periods of baby bed bugs are shorter and more frequent than those of adult bed bugs.
- The most active time of day for baby bed bugs is at night.
- Body heat and odor attract them.
- Every time they molt, baby bed bugs grow bigger.
- Before becoming adult bed bugs, they go through several stages.
- There is a four- to six-month life cycle for bed bugs.
How To Find Bed Bug Eggs?
Due to their white color and small size, eggs are particularly hard to find. It is often necessary to hire a professional to find bed bug eggs.
Don’t let this problem get out of hand if you suspect that these pests have found their way into your home.
Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs On Clothes?
Even though bed bugs can lay eggs on clothes, it is unlikely that they will do so when you wear them. Bed bugs generally crawl on people when they’re sleeping, laying eggs in mattresses, bed frames, floorboards, and walls when they’re still.
Will the Bed Bug Eggs in My Mattress Hatch?
You might wonder if bed bug eggs will ever hatch into actual bed bugs if you ever had them in your bed. Sadly, yes.
Bed bugs in their immature stages are called nymphs. Metamorphosis occurs in three stages, namely egg, nymph, and adult, making it rather straightforward.
Different from butterflies, which undergo a four-stage metamorphosis, from egg, larva, pupa, and adult, this insect does not undergo any metamorphosis.
Nymphs of bed bugs look a lot like their adult counterparts, just as they do for other insects undergoing simple metamorphosis. Nevertheless, their color is transparent or straw-like, and their size is much smaller.
It takes a bed bug nymph five stages to become an adult, during which it grows darker and larger.
In order to grow, they molt or shed their outer shell at the end of each stage. A bed bug infestation is characterized by exoskeletons like this, which have been shed by the pests.
It is possible to find these shells anywhere bed bugs and bed bug eggs are found. You will likely find this in the seams of your mattress or box spring, as well as other areas around your bed.
Bed bugs have similar exoskeletons to their actual bodies. Depending on the stage of development of the insects that shed them, they can range in size from a small ball to a fairly large one.
Final Words
You probably know just how painful it is to have bed bugs infest your house if you have ever encountered them before.
In contrast to other household pests, bed bugs can spread very quickly and spread from person to person.
Female bed bugs can lay up to five eggs per day. As many as 1,800 bed bugs could be living inside your home and biting you and your family in the evening, causing all sorts of stressful situations.