How long can bed bugs live in the cold?
Bedbugs may spend time in any environment, with or without optimum life circumstances.
This post will discuss how long they can survive in the cold and what they do in cold weather.
Cold temperatures, if harsh and sustained enough, may kill bed bugs. Bed bugs will die if exposed to temperatures at or below zero degrees Fahrenheit for four days.
Keep reading to learn more!
Bed Bugs Appearance and Life Cycle
The eggs produced by bed bugs are around 1mm in length, whitish, and elongated.
After hatching, they undergo five nymphal stages before maturing into adults.
If they haven’t eaten for a time, adults will seem brown and have an oval body shape.
If they have just fed, their bodies will be reddish brown, puffy, and longer.
The tiniest (youngest) nymphs are approximately the size of a poppy seed, while the adults are around the size of an apple seed.
How Long Do They Live?
At ideal conditions of 70°F and with availability to a host, the whole growth period from egg to adult may be as few as 35 days.
Adult bed bugs may live for over a year if they have frequent access to blood meals and live in warm conditions.
A female bed bug lays one to two eggs every day and up to 500 eggs during the course of her life.
At 70°F, bed bugs may live for around 4.5 months without eating.
Can Bed Bugs Survive Cold Weather?
Bed bugs may go into “diapause” as a mode of preservation when exposed to cold temperatures.
Bed bugs are more quiescent than anything else during this suspended stage, conserving energy and delaying growth until circumstances improve.
Another reason bed bugs cannot survive in cold temperatures is because they do not reside in colonies outdoors.
They feed on warm-blooded hosts that live indoors at comfortable temperatures, which is why they enter Diapause, despite the fact that this strategy is not employed very frequently.
How Do Bed Bugs Survive in Cold Weather?
While freezing can eradicate bed bugs, it is not the most effective option.
Bed bugs may lower the freezing point of their body fluids, turning them into little monsters that can survive in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, If you want to destroy bed bugs, temperatures must be maintained very low for extended periods of time.
Specifically, your residence must be kept below 4 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 1.5 hours.
Bed bugs may survive at cold temperatures for brief times, thus the freezing procedure must be quite prolonged to kill them.
How Long Can Bed Bugs Live Outside in the Cold?
The following factors determine the lifespan of bed bugs that live outdoors in the cold:
1. Food
Bed bugs may live without food for up to 5 months. They can live for up to a year in cooler regions when their metabolism slows.
If they can’t find food for an extended time, they will perish. Even though they can endure cold conditions, food has an impact on their lifespan.
2. Natural Bed Bug Destroyers
In addition to food shortages, bed bugs in the wild face additional threats during the winter season.
Threats such as natural predators and environmental conditions may lead to their death.
Natural bed bug predators include lizards, spiders, cockroaches, and Pharaoh ants.
These predators play a role in bed bugs survival outside in the cold.
3. Weather
Bed bugs cannot tolerate being submerged in water for very long.
If their outside hiding area becomes flooded with water as a result of the rain, then their lives might be in danger.
4. Temperature
Colder temperatures are typically not as dangerous to them unless they reach -18°C.
When it’s cold, their body temperature drops, and they may stay in this condition for up to a year without eating.
They will die if the temperatures fall below that level.
How to Keep Bedbugs Away in Winter?
Given how severe winters can be, a bed bug infestation is the last thing anybody is expecting to see in the winter months.
There is no time of year that is safe from a bed bug infestation.
So it’s critical to understand how to avoid them all year. The following are some of the approaches that may be employed.
Use the Vacuuming Technique
It is possible to vacuum bed bugs and adequately clean the space they were in.
This will eradicate all signs of the bedbugs from that area, but it may take some time to go through the whole house.
When using a vacuum, it must be emptied promptly into a container from which the bedbugs cannot escape.
Bagless backpack vacuums are the most effective at removing bugs.
Use the Freezing Method
Freezing is an efficient method of dealing with tiny numbers of bedbugs that have infiltrated the residence.
This approach is successful, but its use is restricted to tiny things that can be wrapped in a bag and frozen.
However, you may have heard someone bring a mattress or sofa outdoors in winter to eliminate bed bugs.
Bed bugs may have hibernated, making it look as though they perished.
Once a warm object returns, the bugs reanimate.
Use Poisonous Chemicals
Some things are safe to use in the house yet are toxic or otherwise lethal to bedbugs.
You may use any pesticide as long as you don’t inhale the chemical when distributing it about the house.
When used in bed bug-infested areas, it should be a very effective and safe alternative to use in the house as long as dogs and children are kept out of reach.
It might be dangerous if ingested.
Use Traps and Bait
Traps successfully remove numerous bedbugs from the house, but their effectiveness depends on the frequency of bed bugs entering the traps.
The traps should be placed in areas where bed bugs have been regularly seen and updated.
Use a trap with pheromones as a basis to make them more effective.
Because the pheromones attract additional bedbugs, the traps may capture as many as feasible.
Call Professional Assistance
It is the most effective technique for dealing with bedbugs in the house.
Whether there are a few bed bugs there or a major infestation, the specialists can exterminate the bed bugs from the residence, regardless of the temperature.
In addition, here are a few other measures to reduce the likelihood of outside bed bugs infiltrating your house during cold weather:
- As a precaution, if you have traveled, keep your luggage and clothing outdoors or at least in the garage for 24 hours.
- Take your trip clothing and wash them right away. Don’t allow them to hang around in the home.
- Don’t buy used furniture until you’re certain it’s completely clean.
- Everything that is infected must be treated. Don’t simply throw it out; you could be reinvested later if the bugs make their way back in.
- Investigate anything that resembles an insect bite or little blisters right away. Small red or black patches on your bed sheets are also questionable. All of these are indications that bedbugs are already present.
Keep In Mind The Following
Bed bugs, like humans, love warmth.
Their optimal temperatures are about 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes you wonder how they can survive in temps below freezing.
Some facts concerning bed bugs in the winter include:
- Extreme temperatures may control bed bugs, but they must be quite high.
- Bed bugs will most likely die if exposed to temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit for four days or longer.
- Bed bugs breed and spread more rapidly inside warm, heated houses.
- Bed bugs are known to enter a condition of diapause to avoid frigid weather and enjoy the warmth of spring.
FAQs About How Long Can Bed Bug Live In The Cold
Do you have other questions about how long bed bugs can live in the cold?
The following are a few examples of additional questions that are often asked:
Can Bed Bugs Freeze?
Yes. Bed bugs freeze around 3.2 degrees F for 80 hours. It’s time and temperature-dependent.
Low temperatures freeze bed bugs faster. At 32F, it may take weeks. 30 below 0 F might take minutes.
Will Freezing Bed Bugs Get Rid Of Them?
Yes. Freezing kills bedbugs. Cold therapy must be used for four days at 0 degrees F or below.
Is your freezer cold enough? To keep an eye on frozen items, use a remote thermometer. Begin counting when the center reaches 0°F.
Final Verdict
How long can bed bugs live in the cold?
The temperature must hit zero degrees Fahrenheit and remain there for at least four days for bed bugs to die during winter.
Even though sub-zero temperatures are common in the winter, they vary throughout the day.
This makes bed bugs adopt an energy-saving hibernation mode if temperatures increase even a degree or two above zero, enabling them to live until the temperature rises.
Thanks for reading!