Do Bed Bugs Shed Their Exoskeletons?

by | Mar 28, 2016 | Bed Bugs Facts

Why Do I Have A Bed Bug Infestation?

If you want to make sure you keep your home free of bed bugs, detection of the creatures is absolutely essential. Detecting bed bugs can often come in the form of a visual sighting or the presence of red, itchy spots on your skin when you wake up in the morning. Another possibility is the sighting of bed bug casts, which refers to the skin (exoskeleton) left behind as a bed bug matures.

baby bed bug just fed

Picture of baby bed bug just fed. We can notice when we see the red color (blood)

To reach adulthood, bed bugs must molt five times—once for each immature life stage—before they become adults. If you’re concerned about bed bugs in your residence, this is one of the bed bug facts that should be at the forefront of your understanding of bed bugs.

Bed Bug Stages

The bed bug life cycle starts once a female bed bug lays eggs. After the bed bugs are born, baby bed bugs (nymphs) need to consume blood before they shed their exoskeleton (molting). They need this process to be able to develop and survive.

To molt and move on to the next life stage, bed bugs must ingest a blood meal.  

bedbug life cycle

Bed Bug Life Cycle

Each time they pass from one life cycle stage to the next, they must feed. Starving a bed bug to keep them from growing is a difficult endeavor, because most of the time, these insects can live up to a year without feeding. This means that bed bugs that were unable to feed before the winter months may be in your home right now, lying in wait. Once a bed bug has fed, they will lose their skin and discard them wherever they happen to be in your home.

Among the bed bug facts you should know, this one should really grab your attention—after all, the blood meal comes from you! While you sleep, the growing bed bugs come out to get the meal necessary to keep growing. It’s extremely unsettling to most people to realize that—if your home has a bed bug infestation—a multitude of bed bug nymphs are dependent on you to keep growing.

Exoskeletons from bed bugs are a sign of infestation

Finding bed bug shells (cast skins) in your house might be a sign of a bed bug infestation. if you have a number of bed bugs going through various stages of their life cycle, you potentially have a number of skins that might be found around your home. These skin casts have the appearance that you probably assume — they have the outline of a bed bug and look like a transparent shell.

bed bug shells

Bed Bug Shells

The size of the skin cast you might find depends on which life cycle stage the bed bug was on, but its basic appearance will remain the same.When a bed bug infestation grows people tend to see more skin casts. Remember adult bed bugs don’t molt, if you see many bed bug shells means that the population is growing.

If you see shed exoskeletons, act immediately

Another piece of knowledge that should be at the top of your list of bed bug facts is that they reproduce very rapidly—adult females produce hundreds of eggs during their lifetimes (from 200 to 500). For each female bed bug you help to reach maturity by providing the food source they need to molt, you’re furthering the infestation, which can rapidly grow out of control and become more difficult and expensive to treat.

Bed bug infestation in nyc apartment

Adult bed bugs, baby bed bugs and bed bug shells (transparent bed bug skin)

So if you discover shed bed bug exoskeletons, you can save yourself worry and money—not to mention bed bug bites—by wasting no time in calling a pest control company that specializes in bed bug removal.

Do Bed Bugs Shed Their Exoskeletons? The Answer is Yes.

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