How do bed bugs reproduce?

How do bed bugs reproduce?

Bed bugs reproduce by traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination. The males have hypodermic genitalia which pierce the females anywhere on their abdomen and ejaculate sperm into the body cavity. The sperm diffuse through the insides and reach the ovaries, resulting in fertilization.

The female bed bug lays approximately 5 eggs in one day and about 500 during her lifetime. Eggs are about 1 mm long and are visible to the naked eye. They have a milky-white tinge.

The eggs take about two weeks to hatch. The nymphs (baby bed bugs) start feeding as soon as they hatch, and pass through five molting stages before reaching maturity. During each molting stage they need to feed once. It takes about five weeks to reach maturity at a room-temperature environment.

Bed bugs can only reproduce when they have reached maturity.