Sex Differences in Size of the Blood Meal in the Bed Bug Cimex Hemipterus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)1

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Abstract
Experiments are described for determining the size of the blood meal taken by the bed bug Cimex hemipterus, using a radioactive tracer in defibrinated blood presented in an artifical feeder. The size of the blood meal varied among the 3 strains of C. hemipterus studied, but within each strain females consistently took more blood than males. Female bed bugs weigh more than males, and between strains the average blood meal size also correlated with average weight before feeding. However, among individual insects of the same strain and sex, meal size was not correlated with weight before feeding. Sexual dimorphism in the size of the blood meal was also observed in 5th-instar nymphs; those that eventually emerged as females took larger blood meals than those destined to become males.