Bed bugs, those hematophagous freaks of nature. For those unfamiliar with so fancy a term, just know that they like sucking blood. If there are no other feeding sources around, they will go for the humans every time. It is the carbon dioxide we breath out that causes the attraction. And if they can't detect any carbon dioxide, then our warm bodies sends out a signal to come and get it. There are even certain chemicals that we let off that bring bed bugs around to feast.
The bed bug feeds by sticking our skin with two straw-like protrustions. The first tube is filled with the bed bug's spit. Mixed in with the spit are anesthetics (no wonder we don't feel it) and anticoagulants, so the blood don't thicken up while it feeds. The other tube sucks out the blood from our bodies. It takes about five minutes for the average bed bug to have its fill, before it heads back home under the blankets and sheets and within the nooks and crannies of our furntiture. If it lingers another five minutes, it will swell up with the signs of overeating.
Bed bugs can live up to a year before it has to eat again, yet they will try to get in a five minute nip and suck about every five or ten days. But it can only survive a year if the temperature and climate are cold. If it is warm, to where they can move around and feed more often, then you'll find bed bugs clinging to life for only a mere five months. Lately, in Virginia, as recently as 2009, it was reported that bed bugs couldn't last more than two months without feeding.
The sex life of a bed bug isn't easy, especially for the females. Even though they are equipped with the right body parts for the job, the male overlooks the female reproductive tract and goes right for the belly, spearing her and filling her up with sperm. Oh, eventually this sperm will make it via the blood to the ovaries where more bed bugs will be reproduced, but not before a little trauma occurs. And, because the sexual attraction between bed bugs is size-oriented, don't be surprised to hear that males will go after other males when the mood strikes. An alarm pheromone is used to deter this behavior in males. Good thing.
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