What do bugs eat and who eats them

A detachment of insects, called bugs, has a huge number species. They can be found anywhere on the planet. The most famous of them are bed bugs. These parasites drink human and animal blood. But this is only a small percentage of their huge population. There are so-called wood bugswho drink the juice of plants, and predatory bugs - various insects, frogs and fish become food for them. We will consider only bed parasites, namely: what the bedbugs eat and what they are.

Power mechanism

Regardless of habitat bed bugs, all of these representatives have a piercing-sucking type of well-developed oral apparatus, with which they absorb liquid matter. The jaws are presented in the form of a proboscis, with stylets available inside. They act like scissors. Advancing, the stilettos simply pierce the body, intended for nutrition. There are also 2 channels in the trunk. One of them serves to absorb food, the other - to inject the secretion of the salivary glands containing a large amount of active substances:

• similar to anesthetics, anesthetize during bite;
• enzymes that digest proteins;
• toxic substances of a neuroparalytic nature;
• poisonous components that are able to kill prey with saliva (typical for predators).

How do bedbugs eat?

The parasites that still existed in the caves have not died out to this day. They easily settle in apartments and houses, and successfully reproduce offspringdespite all the available insecticides. The process of how bugs eat is very informative from a biological point of view.

The only food for this parasite is human or animal blood. There are certain specifics and characteristic signs, how to bite bugs. A bed parasite attacks the victim from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., when the person’s sleep is especially strong, so it’s very difficult to catch him. The bite of the parasite is almost painless, but the saliva that has got into the body begins to cause itching after a while. As a result, often a person combes the bite to blood. Consequences of a bite insects have much in common with an allergic reaction.

Bed bugs usually feed on several wounds located along a blood vessel and form a path from bites after 1-2 centimeters. And on the sheet in the morning you can see small spots of blood. If such phenomena are found, then you should forget about the allergy and urgently take up identifying and killing bugs.

On a note!

In bed parasites, the abdomen is wide and flat, it is difficult for them to make their way to the skin of a person because of the hairline. Therefore, the inguinal zone and head are an obstacle for them, and bedbugs use only parts of the body that are uncovered by hair for nutrition. Characteristic places for bites are hands, face, neck and other exposed parts of the human body. Under the clothes for sleeping, they do not crawl.

The method of reproduction and frequency of nutrition

The female bed bug is able to postpone to 250-500 eggs. Before the adult, the development of the egg occurs within a month and a half to two months at a temperature of 15 ° C.If the temperature is lower, the larva stops its development. With such productivity of females, a logical question arises: how often do bedbugs eat to ensure their viability.

Interesting!

To move the larva to another stage, it needs to drink blood at least once, so it eats more often, but in small portions. In the absence of nutrition, development slows sharply. But bed bugs are unpretentious and tenacious insects. The larva can do without food, but not develop up to 1.5 years.

Bedbugs that have reached adulthood should be fed at least 1 time per week at a temperature of 15-20 degrees, and in hot climates much more often. In 7-15 minutes, an adult is able to drink about seven milligrams of blood, which is twice the weight of the insect itself. If the power source in the form of blood for the parasite is absent for a long time, then it falls into a state of suspended animation, in which all life processes slow down. In this form, he can live up to a year in anticipation of his next victim.

In comfortable conditions, the bedbug lives 12-14 months, but if in this period he fell into hibernation (suspended animation), then life span increases. What are bedbugs afraid of? - this is a strong cold. At low subzero temperatures they die completely.

If the parasites are in a non-residential premises for some time, a reasonable question arises as to what bugs eat apart from human blood. They are able to attack rats, pigeons, actively parasitize in chicken coops. With a complete lack of food, in order to save their lives, they can get blood, they can attack dogs and cats, but getting to the capillaries on the body of these animals is very difficult because of the thick coat, so such cases are quite rare. Even adjacent to such animals, they will prefer to migrate to other places or premises.

Who eats bedbugs

Does this species of insects have no enemies or those who feed on domestic bugs? Yes, they are seven-point ladybugs, which are mostly predators. In Russia, this species is one of the most common. Their size is 7-8 mm. These small insects are mainly predators. They feed on slow-moving arthropods, living colonies such as whiteflies or aphids. Their diet includes not only bed bugs, but also their larvae, by this they render a great service to man.