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• Uncategorized ,
• 14 May

By Josh Kattenberg

Lately, the media has been all over bed bug infestations. And while it’s true that the media tends to hype things up a bit, it’s also true that bed bugs are, indeed, a growing problem. As property managers, we need to be concerned over bed bugs, because they inhabit living spaces and could very well invade the properties we manage. Even in Sioux Falls, SD, bed bugs are a potential problem.

As a first step, it’s important to understand the bed bug’s reproductive cycle.

Suppose your rental property were invaded by a single pregnant bed bug. Is there any reason to panic? After all, how much havoc can be wreaked by one bed bug, or even by a few of her babies? Unfortunately for property managers, one pregnant bed bug IS a huge problem. Starting with a grotesque mating ritual and culminating in explosive population  growth, the reproductive capabilities of bed bugs are truly formidable.

Bed bug sex is bizarre, to say the least. An amorous male approaches a female and, without preamble, impales her abdomen with his genitalia. He deposits his sperm quickly and withdraws his appendage. The sperm gradually travels through her body cavity until it reaches her ovaries. Not surprisingly, females find the experience less than enjoyable. Some females avoid sexual relations with males after that first traumatic experience.

Female lay their eggs in small crevices in houses, usually in the areas where people sleep, as that is where the bed bugs are also living. The eggs hatch in about two weeks, and the nymphs emerge voracious. They must encounter their first meal of blood, the bed bug’s only food, before they are able to molt and move on to the next growth stage. In all, bed bugs molt five times before reaching adulthood, a process that usually takes about three weeks. If they have a hard time finding food (a.k.a. blood) and if the temperature in the house is cold (below 60F), it takes them longer to reach adulthood.

Prime conditions for a bed bug involve the presence of humans and warm temperatures (around 70F). With these conditions, bed bug populations will grow exponentially. That one pregnant bed bug who hitched a ride into your property can be the matriarch of a 5,000-strong tribe within six months!

Frustratingly for property managers, even sub-prime conditions don’t eliminate bed bugs very rapidly. Even if people were to vacate the property, removing their blood from the bed bugs’ voracious proboscises, the bed bugs could survive for months, even a year. The only bright ray is the fact that bed bugs are not fertile while they are fasting, so while their populations are not declining rapidly, at least they aren’t expanding, either. They need to eat at least once every 2 weeks in order to reproduce.