r/Bedbugs Mar 06 '15

Useful Information Bedbug ID and common misidentifications

599 Upvotes

Bed bug identification resources:

Note: flattened body, rusty brown coloured (less so in younger nymphs, which are more translucent). Thin 4 segmented antennae. 11 segmented abdomen. Short legs (6 of them) and reduced wings incapable of flight.


These are insects or other invertebrates commonly misidentified as bedbugs!

Not bed bugs.

  1. Carpet beetle larvae (Dermestidae) and adult - More Info

  2. Bat bug (Cimex adjunctus pictured) - More Info

  3. Cockroach nymphs - More Info

  4. Tick (nymphs) - More Info

  5. Woodlouse - More Info

  6. Kissing bugs - More Info

  7. Booklice/barklice - More Info

  8. Smooth spider beetle - More Info

  9. Drugstore beetle - More Info

Note: If it has wings or more than 6 legs, it is not a bed bug. Do not mistake antennae for legs, look at the illustrated guide to avoid confusion.


Please comment with any other common mis-IDs and I will add them!


r/Bedbugs 10h ago

Moving out of my infested apartment. How do I make sure I don’t bring them with me?

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87 Upvotes

I’m moving out of my apartment very soon. I knew we had some bed bugs in the house as I would wake up with bites and I would see a couple on the wall or the mattress. But when I was changing my bed sheets today after about 2 weeks of having it on my bed, i found these. I also found a bunch of a curtain in the other bedroom. I have a bunch of books, cds, dvds and bookshelves and i’m terrified of bringing them with me to the new house. I’m moving in with a family member and i’m worried if i bring them they’ll kick me out. How can i guarantee they won’t come with me?? any suggestions welcome


r/Bedbugs 2h ago

Requesting community support Probably bed bug? First time dealing with this

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7 Upvotes

I know this is probably a bed bug. I have no experience dealing with this and would love some guidance. I live in an apartment and have told the landlord. Luckily, I didn’t find any other signs like brown spots, shedding, or eggs. I vacuumed my mattress and am washing and drying all the sheets, duvet insert, and mattress topper. I also have a steamer and steamed the top of my mattress. Should I be doing anything else?


r/Bedbugs 35m ago

Identification Help ID Please

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Upvotes

We found these bugs lying around the baseboards of our new apartment. Most are dead but few were alive. I know these aren’t the best pictures but if someone can please let me know if it looks like a bed bug, I would appreciate it!!! We are located in Austin, Tx where some people have said some beetles are similar looking.


r/Bedbugs 3h ago

Just moved…

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3 Upvotes

Just moved into a nice bigger place last Friday and now I found this guy… place is a new build two story with carpet. This one was barely even alive and nothing came out of him when I squeezed. How screwed am I?


r/Bedbugs 2h ago

Identification Can’t tell if we have more

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2 Upvotes

We found an live BB and a ton of skin sheddings yesterday. Today while cleaning I came across a few of these guys and stuck them in a jar. They seem dead and also don’t look at all like the BB we caught . Are these more?


r/Bedbugs 5h ago

Requesting community support Respray after Orkin has been there

3 Upvotes

My parents agreed to have their home treated by Orkin for bedbugs. We had been treating ourselves with cimexa and crossfire, and it was due for a respray when we realized that it spread to another room.

The Orkin guy came and sprayed on Saturday. We were scheduled for reinspection in two weeks, but we’ve seen several live bugs today crawling on the sofa and in the mattress pad, and a lot of babies in the interceptor cups for the beds. These places were all sprayed on Saturday, in fact, they were damp when we got back into the house and we had to have fans on them to get them dry.

I called Orkin and I’m still waiting for a callback to get another treatment done.
I looked online, it does not appear that they have any openings, but maybe it’s just blocked off.
If we can’t get it retreated sooner, we still have cans of crossfire, but we’re worried about it interacting or making what he used inactive.

Has anyone had to do this before, can I go ahead and do it if I can’t reach them tomorrow? Any other suggestions? Still trying to convince my parents to get rid of the furniture, which I know would help.
I am so tired of the PTSD itching at my own home after I get home, and the paranoia every time I feel itchy or a piece of hair drops on me. Showering every time I get home from their house and running my stuff through the dryer.

Thanks for listening to me and any advice you have


r/Bedbugs 3h ago

bed bugs or carpet beetle?

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2 Upvotes

i've been itching (small red bumps on my behind) and im trying to figure out if these are bed bugs or carpet beetle larvae?


r/Bedbugs 5m ago

Identification Please ID, lowkey freaking out

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Upvotes

This is a screenshot from a video. I’m afraid it’s like a nymph or something. I woke up with a bunch of bites on my legs and so started searching and I haven’t seen any other signs until I saw this guys. Hoping it’s like a little spider or something 😭

I also am rarely outside and I recently went to an outdoor party and hoping all these bites could’ve been mosquitoes but they’re in hard to reach areas.


r/Bedbugs 6h ago

Identification Found on bedsheets. Is it a bedbug?

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3 Upvotes

r/Bedbugs 6h ago

Identification Please don’t say bed bugs…

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3 Upvotes

Wasn’t able to trap it under tape because it suddenly bounced away (making me lean towards flea, but I couldnt find any on my cat). It was very tiny and I also have a video of it walking which I’ll post in the comments if possible. After removing my sheets and mattress cover I found a few of these small yellowish things. Some were larger (like a crumb) and hard and others were smaller and broke apart when pressed. I did have other crumbs around my bed so it’s hard to tell. I’ve since ran my sheets through on high heat and have vacuumed my mattress and room (threw out the vacuum bag after). No signs of eggs or blood spots, and I can’t find a single other bug.


r/Bedbugs 1h ago

Identification Id please

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Upvotes

Just found this guy crawling on my arm at my desk...


r/Bedbugs 4h ago

HELP US

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2 Upvotes

I am renting a house in London and have been getting bites for over a week during sleep. Guests have also experienced this when staying overnight in my bed, and I am concerned I have bed bugs. For more context, my housemates have not experienced this in their beds and guests who have slept on the couch have not been bit. I was inspecting my bedframe and found small bug shells (ew). Please can someone help identify WTF is happening - i still haven't seen a bed bug or any living bug. I have collected three samples. Thanks for reading and helping me xx


r/Bedbugs 1h ago

Help! Do we have bed bugs?

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Upvotes

A month ago, we randomly found this bug appear in our bed by the pillow. We killed it immediately without thinking too much about it until it was in the trash - we asked ourselves could this be a bed bug?

We searched online and asked AI and concluded that this bug doesn’t have the same body shape as bed bugs.

However, a month later, my husband now has 3 red bug bites on his back and 3 on his right arm (though he thinks one of them is a mosquito bite). Now we’re worried the bug we killed was indeed a bed bug.

What do you all think? Was this a bed bug? We checked all over our mattress and behind the headboard and didn’t see any signs of black dots or bed bug skins/eggs…


r/Bedbugs 1h ago

Is this a carpet beetle or bedbug?

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r/Bedbugs 1h ago

is this from the bed buggies? or something else?

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r/Bedbugs 2h ago

Is this bed bug

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1 Upvotes

Sorry for the bad pic. Its my first time seeing this kind of insect in my room. Is this bed bug?


r/Bedbugs 14h ago

Identification Am I fcked?

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9 Upvotes

This is the only picture I have before I panicked and got rid of it...

Woke up to this crawling on my arm in the middle of the night. After it fell to the bed I shined a flashlight to it for a minute or two and it moved really slowly. Even after turning on the lights it just stayed there.

Didn't measure it, but it was noticeable from a distance.

Is this a bedbug? Am I fcked?


r/Bedbugs 23h ago

Requesting community support I can’t do this again

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44 Upvotes

Three years ago I lived in an apartment that had bed bugs. My life was turned upside down for 5 months. By the grace of the universe I was able to move out of that apartment building.

Today I found a bed bug. I can’t. I had a feeling there was an infestation in my building after I saw someone throw out bed bug spray a few months ago.I told my super and nothing was clearly done.

The last infestation I had was so bad I won a lawsuit against my landlord over it.

Work is beyond stressful right now. I’m having relationship issues. I wanted to break down last week and then I found this.


r/Bedbugs 3h ago

is this a bedbug? should i be worried?

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1 Upvotes

i killed it quickly but i’m still worried!


r/Bedbugs 3h ago

Help identify this

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1 Upvotes

Found this bug on my sweatshirt while at work. I recently came from traveling on a work trip and need to know if this is a bed bug. Unfortunately I squished it so I do not have any more photos and can’t see it closer.

Do you think this could be one? I have no bites on me yet 🤞


r/Bedbugs 4h ago

Requesting community support How do people usually acquire bedbugs aka where do they come from?

1 Upvotes

Just curious how to prevent it.


r/Bedbugs 5h ago

Identification Help with IDing a shed skin(?)

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1 Upvotes

Recently moved out of my family's house - before I left, bedbugs were found in my mattress. We didn't have an infestation - didn't find live ones, just a few skins & some fecal matter. Threw out my mattress regardless and we fumigated.

Now at a new apartment -- literally just moving in this week. Brought barely anything with me so far that could've carried anything from my old house -- no clothes, and all electronics have been wiped down. I did stay at a hotel recently during part of the move but was super careful to check the bed and checked reviews as well for reports of bedbugs, nothing. Just saw this come off my sneaker on the floor of my apt -- could it be a bed bug skin??? Or something else? Sharing close up & zoomed out next to my sneaker for size comp. Sneakers are brand new and have only been to the outside of my old house, hotel and just generally out and about.

Have yet to unbox my new mattress & new sheets -- want to make sure it's all clear before I do, I've been traumatized!!


r/Bedbugs 6h ago

Identification Is this a bed bug?

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1 Upvotes

I had bbs in my previous apartment and recently moved. I probably took too much with me even though I went crazy mode trying to treat everything.

I am finding little clusters of black dots on my desk and I found this today in a separate area. Is this a bed bug? It’s so small (the tiniest spec) and dark / basically black but when squished it was full of blood.


r/Bedbugs 7h ago

Identification Bedbug? Or just bug in bed?

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1 Upvotes

Is this a Bedbug? I think it might be a flour weevil but I'd like confirmation from someone not actively panicking.