It never fails. When temperatures rise, bugs emerge. Year after year, they return and hang out in your yard and sometimes even your home. Though you can expect their arrival, you probably won’t be seeing any familiar faces. Bugs typically have shorter lifespans that vary between species. Check out the average lifespan of common household bugs.
Ants
These tiny insects are known for marching through our picnics. There are over 12,000 species of ants worldwide and about 1,000 species in the United States. Lifespans vary by species as well as by caste. Male ants live the shortest life, which can range from a few days to a few months. They will only live a couple days after mating. Workers live longer than male ants and can live for a few weeks to several months. The availability of food plays a large part in the length of their life. Queen ants will live the longest and can survive for several years. An ant’s life is broken into four different stages—egg, larval, pupal, and adult.
Cockroaches
Two species of cockroaches are likely to scurry into your home—German and American cockroaches. These cockroaches go through the same life stages—egg, nymph, and adult—but at different rates. Both species have eggs that will hatch within 24-38 days. American cockroaches will molt 13-15 times during the nymph stage. The process from egg to adult can take as little as 5 ½ months. They are expected to live for about a year depending on their environment and food availability. German cockroaches molt 6-7 times during the nymph stage. This can take around 103 days. After they have transformed into their adult form, they can live for an additional 100 to 200 days.
Spiders
These arachnids love to sneak up on you and give you a scare. Like others on the list, the lifespan of a spider is different for each species. Spiders have three life stages—egg, spiderling, and adult. One of the most common spiders spotted in homes is the house spider. House spider eggs hatch within 7-10 days. They then enter the spiderling stage, which is when they resemble tiny adult spiders. During the spiderling stage, male house spiders molt six times and female house spiders molt seven times. After reaching adulthood, they will live for about one year. Cellar spiders reach maturity in about a year and can live up to two years as an adult. Black widow spiders usually live for one year, but there have been some known to live a few years.
Flies
These bugs have probably tested your coordination skills once or twice. The environment flies are in greatly affects their life expectancy. Those living in warmer areas, including homes, have a better chance of living longer than those in harsher conditions. In general, flies have a very short lifespan. These bugs complete four life stages including the egg, larval, pupal, and adult stage. Eggs can hatch within a day and will stay in the larval stage for 3-5 days going through multiple molts. The pupal stage lasts for 3-6 days, which is when they begin developing wings and legs. Most flies will reach maturity within 12 days. Houseflies typically live for about one month while fruit flies can live up to 50 days.
Silverfish
These bugs like to hang out in dark, damp areas and have a bad habit of nibbling on your books and clothes. Silverfish complete three life stages—egg, nymph, and adult. Eggs can take up to 60 days to hatch depending on the climate. Silverfish enter into a nymph stage like many bugs on this list. While in this stage, they begin to molt. Unlike other household bugs, silverfish continue to molt throughout their life. They are usually considered adults after about four months. However, their development could take up to two years depending on the environmental conditions. Silverfish do best in areas that are warm and humid. If they are able to live in these locations, they can live up to 3 years.
Bed Bugs
This bug’s name alone can cause many people to cringe. Bed bugs undergo three phases—egg, nymph, and adult—in their lifetime. Eggs typically hatch in about 2 weeks. In order to molt, bed bugs have to have a blood meal. During the nymph stage, they will molt five times before reaching adulthood. This process usually takes about 5 weeks with the right conditions. Adult bed bugs typically have a lifespan of 4-6 months. However, some bed bugs like to defeat the odds. Bed bugs have been known to live for up to a year and they can go quite a while without a feeding.
Though these bugs have relatively short lifespans, they are able to reproduce quickly. This keeps their numbers growing and allows them to emerge every spring. If bugs are invading your yard and home, we want to help! Check out our Maggie’s Farm Simply Effective Pest Control products.