can eggs hatch long after two weeks?(2 posts)
Does anyone know if BB eggs can ever behave as flea eggs do and hatch AFTER the prescribed gestation period? We're considering the possible sources of re-infestation and wondered, even though they usually hatch in... what... 10 to 14 days..., if they can hatch later than that. Anyone know?
I haven't come across anything that suggests the eggs can remain viable for long periods of time like flea eggs; an ento should weigh in.
I do know that how long they take to hatch depends on temperature.
For example, according to one source, at 25dC they take an average of 7 days; at 18dC, 20 days; 13dC, 48 days; and at 7dC they don't hatch. (Johnson, 1941 via Busvine)
At 28dC they may hatch in as little as 5 days, so it's possibly a good thing to increase the temperature of the rooms to encourage them to hatch quickly and be exposed to treatments.
Something to consider, which is sad and terrible, is that reinfestation may be simply a matter of surviving bedbugs, not newly introduced bedbugs.
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