Lou Sorkin shared a follow-up to Monday’s Photo of newly mated male and female bed bugs. He writes,
Female [has] now deposited dark “typical” fecal matter that many people call undigested blood, but it has been digested and voided. If it were undigested blood, how would the bugs be obtaining any nourishment from their blood meals? Male had crawled over and displaced her, but she was in same position as in first picture before I was able to take this shot. A second egg has been deposited on far right. Note first egg is much more elongated and narrow than second one (“normal” shaped egg).
You can see the original photo here. Thanks, Lou!
Credit: photo All Rights Reserved by Dr. Louis Sorkin, American Museum of Natural History.
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Ugh gives new meaning to Romeo and Juliet!
Is there any chance the female is menstruating(do they?)?
I’m pretty sure menstruation is restricted to a few mammalian species, so it’s unlikely to be the case here. Just vampire excrement.
No, bed bugs don’t menstruate. They do excrete fecal matter.