What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?

If you’ve found a bug you can’t recognize somewhere in your room or home, or worse yet, the effects of bug bites on yourself or your family members, you may be the unlucky victim of a bed bug infestation. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to properly find and identify the culprit as a bed bug, which isn’t always easy to do. With the help of some preventative measures like Bed Bug Plug, there can be success in the positive identification of a bed bug. So what do bed bugs look like, and what is the best way to find them?

What Bed Bugs Look Like

While just about everyone has heard of bed bugs, most people have never actually seen one or have any idea what bed bugs looks like. Bed bugs are so good at staying out of sight, that you likely won’t see one until you lure one out of hiding with Bed Bug Plug, or happen to find a dead one in your sheets or laundry. It’s more common that you’ll find signs of bed bug bites before you find a bed bug itself.

While there are over 90 different types of bed bugs with their own unique features, here are some of the more common characteristics to help guide you to identifying these pests early on. If you’ve captured what you think may be a bed bug, feel free to compare it to the pictures and images here to know for sure.

How Big are Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs aren’t particularly large pests, with a fully-grown adult bed bug only measuring in at about 3-5 millimeters in length. For comparison, that means you can fit 4-5 bed bugs end-to-end across the face of a dime. It is very rare that bed bugs get any larger than that, so if the bug you’re examining is much larger you can probably rule out bed bugs.

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    What Shape are Bed Bugs?

    Bed bugs are also oval shaped, with the females generally being a little more wide and round on the sides than the males. They are flat on the back, having no wings, and their body is made up of horizontal segments that look similar to armor plating. Bed bugs are commonly compared to roughly the size and shape of an apple seed. Like other blood-sucking creatures, bed bugs will swell when they feed, and can remain in a more puffed-up shape for a day or two afterwards.

    What Color are Bed Bugs?

    Bed bugs can range in color from almost white, to various shades of brown and red, to nearly black. The most common colors are red, orange, and brown. When bed bugs swell after feeding they often change color to be a more rusty-red color, and can often have darker spots in their bodies as they digest their meal.

    However, there are no special patterns like stripes, spots, or designs that are common to bed bugs, apart from the horizontal body segments that make up their abdomen. If you find insects that have a common pattern, they are more than likely not bed bugs.

    Protect Your Family by Detecting and Protecting Early

    Bed bugs can infest the homes of anyone, anywhere, at any time. While these tiny pests may not seem like much of a threat, a large infestation can cause serious problems with your sleep, your mood, your energy, and even your wallet. Widespread infestations can be expensive and difficult to remedy, and require the help of experienced pest control specialists.

    The best way to detect and protect against bed bugs is to ensure you can detect them early on. Bed Bug Plug has been clinically proven to be the most effective bed bug early detection device on the market. Simply having a Bed Bug Plug in each room of your home will automatically lure and capture bed bugs, so you can take appropriate action before they cause you major problems.

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