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Development of the bugs

Although they have been a documented pain in the rear since at least the 17th century, not much is known about the life stages of bed bugs except for that they require frequent blood meals to transition from stage to stage. The males end up being slightly bigger than the females, with their most notable feature being a spinelike intromittent organ that seems to have evolved specifically for reproduction.

There are five juvenile stages known as nymphs, which are miniature versions of the adults in appearance. Each nymphal stage requires at least one blood meal to moult to the next stage and it takes 5-10 minutes for complete engorgement to occur. The entire nymphal development takes 6-8 weeks, while the adult bed bugs can live on average for 6-12 months. All nymphal stages and adults of both sexes require blood for nutrition and development.

Interestingly, females still develop a normal reproductive area which they use for oviposition. However, the males do not use this area for reproductive purposes, although they probably once did.
The life cycle of the bed bug occurs in 5 stages before reaching adult stage when mating occurs.

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