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May 23, 2019 3 min read
There are different insects that look like bed bugs. It may be confusing to tell if they are bed bugs or not, but this article will help you identify which one is a bed bug and which one is not.
Imagine waking up and discovering that you’ve been lying in bed all night with a bed bug sucking your blood. This will give a creepy feeling that could make sleeping on that bed uncomfortable for a very long time.
There are some other bugs you could find and mistake them for bed bugs, and then you’d start panicking. Well, let’s take a look at some of the factors you’d use to know if the bugs you’re dealing with are bed bugs.
If you don’t see a bed bug physically, bite marks are the first obvious signs that may indicate bed bug infestation. When people see bite marks on their body, they easily become paranoid, that they have been bitten by bed bugs. Bites are actually not the best indicators of bed bug infestation, and do not even clearly indicate the kind of insect they’re from. Bite marks could be from spiders, mosquitoes, fleas, bed bugs, fruit flies or any other insect.
Have you apprehended a bug and you’re not really sure if it’s a bed bug or another kind of bug? Well, only a professional pest controller can really clarify you on that. But then, put the bug in a plastic sandwich bag and take it to an expert. If you’re trying to differentiate kinds of bugs on your own, check out the following factors:
Black carpet beetle- black-brown
Flea- black or reddish-brown
Bed bug- translucent at nymph stage and copper-brown when mature
Grey or light brown
Spider beetle- red-brown
Flea- 1/8 inch
Black carpet beetle- 1/8 to 1/16 inch
Bed bug- 3/16 inch
Book louse- 1/25 to 1/13 inch
Spider beetle- 1/16 to 3/16 inch
Bed bug are horizontally flat, oval and they have compound eyes and four-segmented antennae
Flea- oval, vertically flat
Black carpet beetle- oval, tapered hairy bottom
Spider beetle – Spiders have two body segments, and the bottom is globe-shaped
Book louse- Three body segments, ridged bottom
Check for the presence of wings
Bed bugs are wingless
Spider beetles are wingless
Black carpet beetle has wings
Book louse do not have conspicuous wings, and they can’t fly
Fleas can jump, but have no wings to fly.
Bed bugs bite
Fleas bite
Black carpet beetles do not bite, but their hair causes welts
Pider beetle and book louse do not bite
What does it feed on?
Bed bugs feed mostly on human blood
Flea feeds on blood (mainly dogs and cats)
Book louse feed on mold and fungi
Spider beetle feed on grains, seeds and droppings
Black carpet beetle feed on carpets, fabrics and stored food
If you carefully observed the above written facts, you’d notice that bed bugs and fleas are very similar. The difference is that fleas are smaller than bed bugs, and they jump when disturbed, but bed bugs don’t jump; they crawl, and their shape is like that of an apple.
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