Bed bug infestations don’t happen overnight. Bed bugs take time to grow, breed, and multiply before you call them an infestation.
Two months is the time for the bed bug infestation to manifest in a typical 2-3 bedroom home.
In smaller homes, the period can be lesser.
So, what happens in these two months? And what are the early signs of bed bug infestation?
What options do you’ve to stop the bed bug infestation at the start?
This guide answers all these intriguing questions.
Keep reading.
When Can You Say Your Home Has A Bed Bug Infestation?
Before we get into how long it takes for the bed bug infestation to manifest, it’s essential to know when you can say your home has an infestation.
Infestation occurs when bed bugs belonging to all the lifecycle stages are present in your home.
It means that your home will have bed bugs eggs, bed bugs nymphs or baby bed bugs, bed bugs belonging to each of the five instar stages, and adult female and male bed bugs.
Infestation is a stage when your home becomes a breeding ground for bed bugs.
If you find a solitary bed bug or even a few bed bugs, it can be an accidental intruder that has hitchhiked into your home.
It’s just one of the incidents you can easily handle by using a bed bug spray to kill the bed bugs.
But the problem arises when the solitary bed bug is an egg-bearing female, and you don’t eliminate it.
That’ll lead the female to lay eggs. The eggs will hatch, and there’ll be an infestation over time unless you address it.
So, how long does it take for the bed bug infestation to manifest?
Let’s find it out.
Why It Takes 2 Months For A Bed Bug Infestation To Manifest?
Two months is the approximate time bed bug infestation takes to manifest. In these two months, you’ll have bed bugs belonging to every lifecycle stage.
It means that your home will be a cesspool of adult bed bugs, bed bug eggs, bed bug nymphs, all the five instar stages of bed bugs, bed bug shells, and even dead bed bugs.
If you’re not careful to spot the bed bugs’ early signs, then the bed bug infestation can go unnoticed in these two months.
After two months, the infestation will undoubtedly skyrocket to a bad bed bug infestation.
After mating, a female bed bug can lay five eggs per day for 6-8 weeks daily. So, a single female bed bug can lay 500-600 eggs.
The period between the hatching of the eggs and the bed bug developing into a mature adult is 1.5 months to 2 months.
So, in these two months, a single bed bug can reproduce at least 500 bed bugs.
Ignoring the early signs of infestation can lead to a massive infestation which will cost too much to eliminate.
Early Signs Of Bed Bug Infestation
As mentioned, sighting of a solitary bed bug in your home doesn’t confirm a bed bug infestation.
However, that can be an indication that there are more.
If you see one bed bug in your home, then look for other signs that can confirm a bed bug infestation in your home.
If you spot these signs at the initial stages of infestation, then you know for sure that you caught the bed bug infestation early.
- A few adult bed bugs (lesser than 10-12)
- Tiny whitish bed bug eggs
- Baby bed bugs
- Bed bug shells
- Bed bug feces
- Bloodstains on the bedsheet
In low infestation, these signs are hard to spot.
It all begins with where you spot these signs. Most of the time, it’ll be on your bed or in soft furnishings like couch, carpets, and rugs.
The bed bugs will lay eggs in places they hide during an infestation.
And they hide in the thin cracks and gaps in the bed frame, box springs, and in the edges of the mattress seams.
The eggs are tinier than a grain of rice. So, seeing them with a naked eye can be a bit hard. To spot the eggs, you’ll need a magnifying glass.
Despite bed bugs being nocturnal, it’s best to find bed bugs during the day.
During the day, bed bugs are stationary and hide.
Baby bed bugs, also known as nymphs, are miniature adult bed bug begs. They, too, are hard to spot, and they’re off-white or white.
After coming out of the eggs, baby bed bugs need to feed on blood. Without blood meals, they can’t grow.
Bed bugs don’t go beyond 6-8 feet from where they get their blood meals.
So, most of the time, they’re hiding in your bed so that they can have easy access to their hosts.
Baby bed bugs molt. Molting is the process when newborn bed bugs shed their exoskeletons to accommodate their growth in size.
So, you’ll notice casted-off bed bug shells on or near your bed or in the places where they hide.
Baby bed bugs will molt five times before they reach matured adulthood. On each molt, the baby bed bugs grow.
Bed bug feces are tiny reddish-black rusty dots on the bedsheets. As bed bugs feed only on human blood, their feces are liquid.
If the bed bugs are hiding in the couch, carpet, or rugs, then the bed bug feces can be hard to spot.
However, the bloodstains on the bedsheets are pretty apparent on your bed.
When the bed bugs get crushed by your body weight while you’re asleep, the blood they fed splashes out.
So, what should be your action plan when you notice these early signs of bed bug infestation?
If you don’t act, you can have a severe bed bug infestation in your home.
Thankfully, you can get rid of bed bugs cheaply during the early stages of bed bug infestation without hiring an exterminator.
The vital difference between a severe bed bug infestation and a low bed bug infestation is that in the case of the latter, you’ll notice the signs of bed bugs without much of an effort.
Does One Bed Bug Mean An Infestation?
It can be, or it can’t be. There’s no definitive answer.
The one bed bug can be a random solitary bed bug that somehow managed to sneak inside your home by latching onto anything.
Or it’s a bed bug that has come out of its crowded hiding place and looking for a new place to hide. In that case, that one bed bug can indicate all the rooms have bed bugs.
So, if you find one bed bug, kill it by using a bed bug spray on it. And look for the signs of bed bug infestation.
Summary
It takes two months for the bed bug infestation to manifest. Infestation means that your home supports the entire lifecycle of bed bugs.
And that occurs when bed bugs are successfully getting their blood meals from you.
So, it’s always best to act fast and eliminate bed bugs at the early stages of infestation. When the infestation level is low, it’s possible to get rid of bed bugs cheaply on your own.
Dr. Thomas Orbert is a PhD in Entomology with extensive research experience in ectoparasites and microbials. He has also worked in the spaces of ecology conservation and has multiple years of experience in field research and scientific publishing.