Información relacionada disponible en español If you have a bed bug infestation, it is best to find it early, before the infestation becomes established or spreads. Treating a minor infestation, while an inconvenience, is far less costly and easier than treating the same infestation after it becomes more widespread. However, low-level
infestations are also much more challenging to find and correctly identify. Other insects, such as carpet beetles, can be easily mistaken for bed bugs. If you misidentify a bed bug infestation, it gives the bugs more time to spread to other areas of the house or hitchhike a ride to someone else's house to start a new infestation. Learn about identifying bed bugs. Bites on the skin are a
poor indicator of a bed bug infestation. Bed bug bites can look like bites from other insects (such as mosquitoes or chiggers), rashes (such as eczema or fungal infections), or even hives. Some people do not react to bed bug bites at all. On this page:
Looking for Signs of Bed BugsPhoto of a person's arm with bed bug bites (courtesy of Harold Harlan, AFPMB) A more accurate way to identify a possible infestation is to look for physical signs of bed bugs. When cleaning, changing bedding, or staying away from home, look for:
Where Bed Bugs HideWhen not feeding, bed bugs hide in a variety of places. Around the bed, they can be found near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard. If the room is heavily infested, you may find bed bugs:
Since bed bugs are only about the width of a credit card, they can squeeze into really small hiding spots. If a crack will hold a credit card, it could hide a bed bug. Close up of bed bug eggs on cardboard Bed bugs along the side of a window frame Bed bugs along the bottom edge of an electrical outlet Bed Bug Behavior and HabitUnderstanding the behavior of bed bugs (how they eat, live, and reproduce) will help you to find an infestation before it becomes established and to monitor for the presence of bed bugs after your home has been treated. Feeding:
Life stages/mating:
Living conditions:
Do bed bugs leave large blood stains?When bed bugs infest, they will leave blood stains on sheets, pillowcases, blankets, mattresses, box springs, furniture, carpets, molding, and more. These stains may be red but, most of the time, they appear tan or brown. Significant staining is associated with areas of infestation.
How big is a bed bug stain?Compared to the bloodstains that we described above, bed bug fecal marks (also called “fecal spotting”) are much smaller and darker. These small, dark spots resemble an ink dot from the tip of a pen or marker. Their average size is about 2 to 4 times larger than a period at the end of this sentence.
How do I identify bed bug stains?Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed. Dark spots (about this size: •), which are bed bug excrement and may bleed on the fabric like a marker would. Eggs and eggshells, which are tiny (about 1mm) and pale yellow skins that nymphs shed as they grow larger. Live bed bugs.
What does a bed bug filled with blood look like?Bed bug nymphs are smaller than adults and are whitish-yellow. When full of blood, they look bright or dark red. Without any blood, their bodies are translucent and almost invisible. Bed bugs are the size of a poppy seed when they hatch from eggs.
|