Did My Bed Bug Already Lay Eggs?

Hi I have recently found a bed bug and was wondering if we caught the bed creature when he arrived or if he would have already laid eggs throughout the bedrooms of my house ?

Editor Response

It depends on whether the bug was a female, and whether she had mated and fed. Only females lay eggs, and a female must feed on blood first. After a meal she lays about 5 to 20 eggs over roughly 10 days, in protected cracks and seams near where people sleep. You can tell males from females by the tip of the abdomen: rounded in females, pointed in males.

So a single bug could be a hitchhiker that hasn't laid any eggs, or a sign of a larger problem. To find out:

• Check mattress seams, the box spring, bed frame and headboard for tiny pearly white eggs about 1 mm long, empty eggshells, shed skins and dark spots.
• Put interceptor cups under the bed legs and check them weekly.
• Watch for tiny, pale young bed bugs. In a warm home, most eggs hatch within about 6 to 10 days.

If you find more signs, call a pest control professional. Our guide to bed bug eggs shows what they look like and what kills them.