376 



BEDBUGS AND THEIR ALLIES 



40 eggs at a time, all near the same stage of development, so 

 they must undergo rapid increase in size shortly before being 

 deposited. Girault, who has carried out extensive breeding 

 experiments, saw one female lay 111 eggs during the 61 days 

 that he had her in captivity, and another laid a total of 190 

 eggs. Often a female returns to lay more eggs in the same 

 place so that batches of 40 or more can be found in the crevices 

 where the adult insects hide. 



The eggs hatch in from six to ten days during warm weather, 

 but are retarded in their development by cold. A week of 



freezing temperature reduces the 

 hatching to 25 per cent. The 

 freshly hatched bugs (Fig. 167B) 

 are very small, delicate and pale 

 in color. After their first hearty 

 meal they have a much more 

 robust appearance, and grow 

 rapidly. The skin is normally 

 moulted five times before the final 

 Fic. 167. Egg and newly hatched adult stage is reached, at least 



larva of bedbug. X 20. (After Mar- i , - r i i • 



ja^t^j. ) one gluttonous teed bemg neces- 



sary before each moult in order 

 to insure normal development and reproduction. Although 

 apparently not necessary to its development, the bug may gorge 

 itself several times between moults, at intervals of about one to 

 six days. Marlatt found the average period of time between 

 moults to be eight days. Allowing a similar length of time 

 for the hatching of the eggs, the time occupied from laying of 

 the eggs to maturity is about seven weeks. Girault has found 

 the development from the hatching of the eggs to maturity to 

 take place in as short a time as 29 days. On the other hand, 

 starvation, cool temperatures and possibly other conditions may 

 drag out the period of development to great lengtli. Bacot 

 found that the newly hatched larvae could live unfed four and a 

 half months and with one feed for nine months. The several 

 larval stages of the insect resemble each other quite closely except 

 in the constantly increasing size and deepening color. The 

 wing pads appear only after the last moult. 



Bedbugs and Disease. — The relation of bedbugs to human 

 disease is a subject which, although a problem of the most vital 



