Age structure of bed bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) aggregations affects the nymphal feeding success

BACKGROUND: Bed bugs (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) are a group of blood-feeding ectoparasites. They mainly specialize on bats and birds, but a few species are important human pests. They exhibit several unique adaptations for their parasitic lifestyle. Among those, bed bug aggregations represent a striking example of a sub-social structure. However, their benefits for the bed bugs as well as their potential for bed bug control are largely unexplored. Young nymphs are known to disperse from the aggregations much less than older ones or adults. We therefore found possible that the aggregation age structure is connected with success in finding host and tested the effect of presence of adults on nymphal feeding success. RESULTS: We tested the effect of presence of adults on feeding success of first-instar nymphs using an artificial feeding system. We found that presence of fed adults causes larger proportion of nymphs to feed. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our data, fed bed bugs seem to trigger the young nymphs to actively forage. Since the first instar is much less viable than later stages, our finding points to an adaptive behavior that economizes on foraging energy cost. In the context of bed bug control, knowledge on such behavior emphasizes the prevention of fed bed bugs from returning to harborages. Bed bug traps may thus be used not just as means of bed bug monitoring, but also as means of control. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3659-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.