What do bed bug eggs look like? 

Bed bug eggs look considerably different in size, colour, and shape than a young or adult bed bug.  Depending on the stage of development a bed bug is in, impacts the appearance of how it looks. Bed bug eggs are the first stage of development in the life cycle of a bed bug, so what do these eggs look like?

They are tiny

Bed bug eggs will look incredibly small and barrel-shaped at 1mm in size, which is the same as the size of a single grain of salt. They can be seen by the naked eye but are generally left undetected as only professionals or a well-trained eye can spot them.  They can even be described as microscopic, as the naked eye won’t be able to see the details and structure of a bed bug.

Translucent to pearl-white

Not only are bed bug eggs tiny, but they appear translucent (if they are fresh eggs) or pearl white. They attach to materials and appear as white dots, but they mostly camouflage well to light-coloured fabrics which can slip the notice of people. These fabric or materials they attach to must also be very strong so that these eggs can stick on it and hatch. Bed bug eggs can attach to fabrics and wood; they don’t usually attach on metal or plastic. If they cant attach well to these surfaces, these eggs are less likely to hatch.

Appear in clusters

Female bed bug can lay up to 100 – 500 eggs in their lifetime if they have a supply of blood to keep them nourished, a male and a good environment. This means that bed bug eggs can appear in clusters, and not as a single egg. Eggs can be produces daily, around 5-7 per day. Even when these eggs hatch and mature, bed bugs do live and hide in clusters.

Egg shells

Even though bed bug eggs will appear in clusters, they won’t be hatching at the same time. This results in eggshells that are spread near unhatched eggs, which are opaque-white in colour. So, you may find some of these shells scattered near eggs.

Shiny and sticky

Fresh bed bugs are also transparent, sticky, and shiny, because when the female bed bug lays the eggs, she secretes a sticky substance which enables these eggs to attach to fabrics, wood, or surfaces.