Bedbugs — they’re certifiably terrifying, but not everything you have heard about the little creeps is true. We asked Park Slope author and “bedbug shrink” Brooke Borel to sort the fact and fiction.
Bedbugs can live for a year or more without eating: Fiction
“That could be possible in some really rare cases, but research suggests it is more like a couple of months,” said Borel. “I suppose if it’s really cold it could slow their metabolism, but that would not be the case in a New York apartment with central heating.”
Bedbug eggs can go unhatched for up to five years: Fiction
Bedbug eggs generally hatch in about six to 10 days after they were laid, said Borel.
“People tend to give bed bugs these supernatural abilities,” she said. “Yeah, they’re hard to get rid of, but people give them more power than they actually have.”
Bedbugs only hang out in beds: Fiction
Beds are their preferred hangout, but you better believe they will follow you to the couch if you try to hide out there, said Borel.
Females lay 500 eggs in their lifetime: Fact — kinda
This one is not entirely correct, Borel said, though that is little comfort — they are still baby-bedbug-making machines.
“Five hundred eggs might be some upper limit that is possible, but females generally lay more like 200 eggs in their lifetime,” she said.
Bedbugs can hunt down humans by detecting carbon dioxide in our breath: Fact
Sorry guys, this one’s true.
“They gotta eat somehow,” said Borel.
