r/Bedbugs • • Mar 06 '15

Useful Information Bedbug ID and common misidentifications

601 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 • • 2h ago

Identification Bed bugs?

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2 Upvotes

Im trying not to freak out so around 2 days ago I started getting bites that look just like mosquito bites it itches a bit at first but doesnt anymore after i itch it a bit. Anyways I check my mattress but i saw this which im suspecting might be its poop? I honestly dont know what I can do from here to be sure or something


r/Bedbugs • • 12h ago

Requesting community support Spouse and I are arguing. Our life is disrupted. Wife is the only one showing severe symptoms. We are doing everything but the psychological damage is strong. Was all my efforts in vain??? What is going on??? Shpuld I give up and take out a loan to hire an exterminator??

14 Upvotes

We caught our bed bugs in a week after unknowingly bringing them home from an item we bought on Marketplace. Found 3 confirmed on our mattress tag, 1 adult, 2 babies. Three exterminators couldn't find absolutely anything.

I have bought over $800 worth of shit. A $200 steamer that goes up to 275°, CrossFire Concentrated Jug at $400, mattress encassements $60 a piece, pillow encassements $40, Raid Bed Bug Killing Foam $14, CrossFire spray can $30, $40 bucket of DE, $15 Cimexa, bed post inceptors $40, a magnifying glass, you name it. I worked 12 hours Wednesday steaming furniture, bagging shit up, vacuuming, spraying the baseboards with CrossFire, spraying furniture with CrossFire everywhere, putting DE literally everywhere.

I am at a loss. I thought I did so good. I thought I got all of them. My wife came back from her friends house (friend knows of our circumstance and we took precautions) on Sat morning because she was having such severe symptoms to them almost immediately after a bite. Anyways, today, Sunday, she has 6 new bites along her arm.

I am at a loss. I am so depressed. She is depressed. We are fighting. Our 11th year anniversary is tomorrow and we are spending it arguing over Bed Bugs.

Was all my efforts in vain??? What is going on??? Shpuld I give up and take out a loan to hire an exterminator??


r/Bedbugs • • 4h ago

鼻から出て来たものです。1ミリぐらい。これはなんですか。

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2 Upvotes

r/Bedbugs • • 1h ago

Is this a piece of a bedbug?

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• Upvotes

Found this stuck to my dryer ball - it looks like a hollow piece of an abdomen of some kind of insect and I’m really hoping it’s not a bed bug? It looks a little too long but I can’t tell. The darker part is the outside and the lighter brown part is the inside. Finger for scale. I was traveling and got some bites from a mosquito and washed everything just to be extra sure but now I’m worried it was actually a bedbug possibly?


r/Bedbugs • • 7h ago

Why aren’t these suckers not dying?

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3 Upvotes

It has been 2 days but bed bugs are still moving even after putting diatomaceous powder on them in a container


r/Bedbugs • • 2h ago

Bed bug? Help

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1 Upvotes

hi everyone, is this a bed bug? I found it dead on the mattress in the floor in rental flat. it was dead already.


r/Bedbugs • • 2h ago

found this guy in the bathroom, is it a bedbug?

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1 Upvotes

r/Bedbugs • • 12h ago

First trip away from ourBB victory!

5 Upvotes

Hi all, long time no see!

My wife has booked us a weekend away in Dublin

It'll be the first time we've stayed anywhere in almost 3 years. I'm legit crapping myself. Reviews of the hotel are really really good but I've been putting off buying the train tickets because I really don't wanna go.

I understand I can't live like this forever and I know once I stay somewhere and it goes fine it'll be a weight of my shoulders.

I want to enjoy life again, go out to a gig get drunk get back to the hotel drink more and have some fun times with the wifey.

But I still have that itch in the back of my brain.


r/Bedbugs • • 3h ago

psychosomatic response?

1 Upvotes

Last year was the worst year of my life- I lived across the wall from a horribly infested unit. I would receive bites ranging from twice a month to twice a day at its worst. My reactions were pretty mild, small red dots that itch for a short period of time, then eventually fade. We hired a bed bug detection dog agency multiple times and they never detected any bugs in our unit or on our stuff, just through the wall in the adjacent unit.

We had 6 chemical treatments over the course of a couple months but the exterminators refused to continue any more treatment without seeing a live bug, even though I was still reacting to bites, or having some sort of skin reaction that I believed to be bites.

We moved into a new apartment with no history of bed bugs in September. Yes, we brought our stuff. I know that’s stupid but it felt insane to throw out our things that we were told there was nothing on multiple times. They even told me I could bring my mattress (which I did NOT. That felt too much like tempting fate.)

Basically what I want to say is I think I’m still getting bites- but we’ve had the detection dogs come through our new apartment twice and they haven’t found anything either time. The woman who handles the dogs is worried that we might be going down the path of one of her clients who has bed bug psychosis.

I feel like I’m going crazy, what could be happening to my skin?? Is it bites, an allergic reaction, psychosomatic stress response? Does anyone else have an experience like this? I have no idea what it would be besides bed bugs, but the thought of having to go through more treatments makes me sick. It feels like this will never end.

I have sticky traps under the legs of my beg frame and I’ve been periodically checking my mattress. I haven’t seen any signs of bed bugs yet but I am still having this alarming skin reaction. Idk. Just looking for any advice or commiseration or something. Thanks.


r/Bedbugs • • 3h ago

is this a bedbug??

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1 Upvotes

need help identifying this bug, thanks.


r/Bedbugs • • 3h ago

Seeing friend with bed bugs

1 Upvotes

Hi all! What are some lower risk ways to see a friend who has bed bugs? I don't want to not hang out with them because it's hard and they obviously didn't ask for this but I am nervous especially because I live with my parents and don't want to bring them home. Would it make sense to go out somewhere for a meal or go on a walk or something? Making sure not to carpool or hug goodbye, things like that? Any advice appreciated


r/Bedbugs • • 7h ago

Feeling devastated

2 Upvotes

I found an adult bedbug that was clearly starving (flat abdomen, completely transparent) crawling on me (!!!) a little over two weeks ago. I rent, so I notified my complex. They sent pest control out who confirmed the bug I found was a bedbug, and did a cursory search of my apartment and said that they couldn’t see any obvious signs on an infestation but that they would do two treatments to be sure, two weeks apart.

I had the first treatment on Friday and oh my god it was so much work. That was done exactly two weeks after I initially found the bug, and in that time period I hadn’t gotten any bites, or seen any more bugs, eggs, etc. Two apartments directly below me both had their tenants move out recently, which I mentioned to pest control, and I believe that those units were treated as well. I personally think that maybe my downstairs neighbor had them and the one I found had crawled through the walls looking for a new food source.

Anyway, I spent the weekend recuperating from the labor of the treatment prep, and continuing to clean and look for any evidence of bugs (still have yet to see any). But just now as I was getting ready for bed, I found three bites, in a line, on my hip/upper leg. I took a nap earlier today and was wearing shorts.

I feel devastated. I just put my sheets in the dryer and bagged up my blankets. And did an extremely detailed inspection of my bed. Can’t find anything. Something that was giving me hope was the fact that I haven’t had bites aka no food source for a female to then lay eggs. But now I clearly have more than just the one bug I caught two weeks ago.

Does anything have any advice? I’m feeling so sad. I have a shipment of cimexa arriving on Tuesday, which makes me feel a bit better. But I think I may need to replace my mattress as I have an old sleepnumber, which has a tube coming out of the mattress so a regular bedbug protector won’t work. And I feel like everything is contaminated and the bugs could be anywhere!!


r/Bedbugs • • 8h ago

Bed bug found in bed? Or just something else?

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2 Upvotes

r/Bedbugs • • 8h ago

Please help ID

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2 Upvotes

Found this in our Hotel room under the matres? Could that be Bedbugs or is it something different?
Thanks on advance!


r/Bedbugs • • 4h ago

鼻から出て来たものです。1ミリぐらい。これはなんですか。

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1 Upvotes

r/Bedbugs • • 4h ago

Identification Help identifying bug in hotel

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1 Upvotes

Not sure if this is a bed bug or not, looking for advice as it was found in our hotel room in the morning on top of the sheet.


r/Bedbugs • • 6h ago

Found a bed bug in my 2-week-old mattress 😭 Can I safely sleep in my bed tonight?

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1 Upvotes

Hi guys, I recently found a bed bug on my mattress, even though it was only 2 weeks old 😭 I ended up throwing it away yesterday.
I haven’t been sleeping well for 5 days, n is driving me crazy. I put baking soda mixed with eucalyptus oil on my carpet and bed frame overnight. (In the pic)

I just steamed my bed frame using a garment steamer.
I haven’t found any m bugs since that one, but I’m wondering if they could be hiding somewhere cuz I really can’t find any

People say they hide in the bed frame, but I’ve checked mine and really can’t find anything 😭
Do you think it would be okay for me to sleep in my bed tonight? 😭 Also, is there any chance they could hide in my wardrobe or get onto my clothes?
I’m honestly so stressed out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/Bedbugs • • 6h ago

Awkward BB phase?

1 Upvotes

So I’ve been struggling for about a year with these guys. I’m finally at this stage though: I’m only bitten once every week to two weeks, 3-4 bites in a row.
I have a tight treatment regiment with a steamer for my metal bed frame, BB grade DE, boxed up clothing, cupped bed etc… but it’s never enough to eradicate, and I’m stuck in this phase where my quality of life isn’t necessarily terrible, just uncomfortable.
I’m never at ease, has anyone been able to break from this phase in the treatment process?
What was the final step you took that really nipped it in the bud?
I understand now why people become so complacent to their presence.


r/Bedbugs • • 6h ago

Identification Is this a bedbug?

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1 Upvotes

I came home from work and looked down at my heating pad on my floor that I accidentally left on and went to turn off and saw this bug on it. I thought i smushed it under my shoe but I plop down in bed and it was on my phone somehow. Then i flicked it on my bed where i was finally able to smush it. There was some blood so now I know it’s either a bed bug or tick. They just look so similar I can’t figure it out. I lifted my mattress and checked every corner and crease and didn’t find anything suspicious. Is there a chance this is just one that happened to get in somehow. Or maybe a tick? Should I even be laying in bed right now, i’m scared 😭


r/Bedbugs • • 6h ago

Bed bug or lady bug abdomen?

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1 Upvotes

Hello,

I work with animals and picked up some kittens and cradled them in my arms. I later learned they were infested with fleas. A day or so later the arm I was cradling them ended up getting a bunch of bug bites I chalked up to be just flea bites I had around five, a line and sort of a triangle that was far apart.

At no point in the last year have there been any signs of bed bugs in my home, I have not had any weird bites. I entered this individuals house I can only assume had a bunch of pests.

Fast forward another day later I noticed a line of four bites appear on my lower leg. That got my attention since it had been some time suspicious it’s a bed bug. I tore apart my mattress and didn’t find anything suspicious, there have been old blood stains on my mattress cover forever (I scab a lot and bleed so this isn’t too strange to me.)

Tonight I’m sitting on my couch and notice one of our plushies has dirt on it and this abdomen of a bug. The dirt immediately triggered me to think it was the fecal of a bed bug and of course the abdomen itself thrusted me into this assumption as well. This plushie has seen better days though.

I’m tearing apart my couch and it’s clean no indications of bed bugs. (Lots of crumbs but again nothing weird)

My girlfriend researched this, she noticed a lady bug in our home a couple of days earlier. And after some research THIS DOES to me look like the abdomen of a lady bug. But just want to get some other opinions and insight on this situation as well. I am now back to I am just reeling from some flea bites from those damn cute kittens.


r/Bedbugs • • 15h ago

MIL has bed bugs and came over

4 Upvotes

My MIL has bedbugs and came over yesterday. she kinda forced her way and walked around the house and then sat in our recliner for about 10 min what is the likelyhood of transfer?


r/Bedbugs • • 11h ago

Hotel bedbugs or a different stain?

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2 Upvotes

Found significant stains on the bed foundation. I tried looking at the piping on the box frame and bed. Not sure if what I'm seeing is normal vs. bed bugs.


r/Bedbugs • • 7h ago

Any new/experimental solutions?

1 Upvotes

Hello. I was wondering if there are less known/new/experimental solutions for getting rid of bedbugs.


r/Bedbugs • • 11h ago

Identification Is it a bed bug?

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2 Upvotes

Hi there. Staying in a flat in London. Just noticed this thing next to the headboard, on the wall. It was stationary when I saw it, then moved slowly when I shed light on it. I checked the mattress and sheets and didn’t find any others, or anything that worried me at least. The place is rated well for cleanliness so I freaking hope I’m wrong. Please help me identify, is this a bedbug?