If we impart a quick look at the pest world and try to make a list of the most annoying pests of all time, bug bugs will come within the first few pests of the list without any doubt. By appearance and because of their peculiar feeding habit humans never want to compromise with the presence of bed bugs, so do you we guess!
Bed bugs are not like regular pests; they are the smartest among all; they will wait until you fall asleep in a dark room and then started sucking your blood to feed their appetite. Finding them in your home is another troublesome and time taking job, because of their micro size and flattened body shape they are really hard to find, especially during the day.
But sometimes people misunderstood bed bugs bites with other insect bites and vice versa because of its similarity with regular rashes and mosquito bites. In this guide, we are going to discuss everything you need to know to identify bed bugs and their bites. So, don’t get confused, just keep on reading!
You need a proper pest strategy to maintain a safe distance from bed bugs. Certain knowledge on bed bugs will help you identify them at the very first moment they enter your room, which we are going to discuss.
Bed bugs are tiny, dark brown insects; adults measure around 0.8 inches (4.5 mm) whereas bed bug eggs bear a size of 0.09 inches (2.5 mm). They cannot fly like mosquitoes of fleas but they can crawl really faster through your mattress, couches and even walls. After having a heavy blood meal, they somewhat look like reddish-brown.
If in case, you believe only poor people get bed bugs then stop this misunderstanding right now because it is nothing but a myth! Bed bugs are considered as true insects due to their three body segments (like other insects) which include head, abdomen, and thorax.
They have three pairs of legs, two black eyes situated on the two sides of the brain; they also have a pair of long sensitive antennae on the frontal portion of their head which help them detect the exact place of their meal. Bed bugs can be anywhere from hotels to dorms, from cinema halls to hospitals, from flights to ships you just name it!
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Cleanest and wealthiest places also had bed bug infestation at least once check their history you will surely find one. Due to improper knowledge, their population grows along with time and with the growing population of humans.
They are good travelers like you! But how? Whenever you visit new places, you never know they might wait for you and hide within your luggage to reach your home. Moreover, through the time they have gained their resistance over most of the pesticides we normally use to kill all other regular insects and pests. They have become so stubborn that scientists struggle to find an effective way to get rid of them.
Check this video to see the changes in bed bugs after having a heavy blood meal:
If you have seen this video, you already understand you know the exact place where they usually hide it is pretty easy to find them. Though that does not necessarily mean that, no bed bugs can hide any other place other than the mattress and pillow.
Also read: Several pictures of bed bugs, their eggs, and their bites
Well, it is a common confusion between lice and bed bugs because they look almost similar to each other. Bed bugs are usually bigger than the lice, and they are reddish-brown whereas lice are smaller in size with an off white and light brown in color.
They also live in two different places; bed bugs hide within the mattress, pillow covers, couches, etc. so that they live closer to their food sources, whereas lice live within hair crawl upside down to suit themselves.
One common thing between lice and bed bug is that they both feed on human blood. Bed bugs require one or two full meals within one week, whereas lice bite multiple times within a day to feed their appetite.
Check the video to know more:
Both are very silent in nature humans only can realize their presence after getting bitten by them. Bed bugs cannot live on their host as they fail to grip the human skin, whereas lice strictly live on human hair because they can grip it better.
If we talk about size then carpet beetles are a little smaller than adult bed bugs, they are only 3mm in height. The body color is brown or black tinged with brown. Sometimes red and white patches can be there too.
Their feeding habit is completely different than the bed bugs; they rely on nectars and pollens, whereas bed bugs only feed on human blood. They have three pairs of legs and hard exoskeleton but not harder than the bed bugs. Their body shape is round or oblong, whereas bed bugs have a flattened body.
Check this view to get an idea of how carpet beetles look like:
So, as you can see, carpet beetles differ from bed bugs by their body color, size, and shape and also by their feeding habits. The carpet beetles sometimes found on the body of your pets because they live closer to the carpet than humans.
Physiologically bed bugs and mosquitoes are completely different, but their bites look somewhat similar. Mosquitoes can fly, whereas bed bugs can crawl faster; they share the same feeding habit but do not look the same. Mosquitoes are black, or ash in color and they produce a buzzing sound when coming closer to your body part.
Click here to check this video on how mosquitoes look like and how they are sucking your blood:
Mosquitoes are known to spread harmful diseases like dengue, malaria, etc. whereas bed bugs do not transmit any disease apart from sucking your blood.
Fleas are much smaller than adult bed bugs; they are only 2-2.5 mm long. The body color of fleas is much darker than bed bugs; their mouth part is well-developed with several strings attached with it to feed. Both of them have three pairs of legs, but bed bug’s legs are the same in size whereas fleas have one smaller pair and two larger pairs which help them to fly and jump.
Fleas generally love to live on dogs, cats, cows, goats and other pets and feed almost everything but not blood, whereas bed bugs are strictly human bloodsuckers. Fleas are known to transmit disease like typhus; bed bugs do not transmit any harmful disease.
The term Scabies represents a skin infection that is caused by a mite name: Sarcoptes Scabiei, which can easily live on your skin for more than months. They live on your skin and reproduce there, whereas bed bugs do not live on your skin suck your blood to feed their appetite. These mites have four pairs of legs instead have three pairs like the bed bugs.
Check this video out to know about Scabies:
Chiggers are a kind of tiny mite that injects a peculiar fluid inside the dermal layer of the animals. The cells rupture due to the chemical reaction with the fluid and thereby result in itchy areas. Swollen patches may also be seen due to severe infection.
If we talk about the size then, bed bugs are larger than the Chiggers, you need a magnifying glass to find them. They attach with other animals not only for food but also for living and reproduction, not like bed bugs feed and leave a concept.
Being an urban citizen, we all have encountered spiders in our regular lives, wither within our home or office or any other place. They practically do not share any similarity with bed bugs, neither physiologically nor by feeding habit.
The spiders are bigger than the bed bugs with four pairs of legs instead of three like bed bugs. Another differentiating factor is that the spiders produce slippery webbing material from their saliva while bed bugs don’t do that. As we know, bed bugs feed on human blood whereas, spiders feed on smaller insects like fleas, mosquitoes, etc.
Sometimes we misunderstood bed bugs with other common pests because always it is not possible to identify them with the naked eye. Proper knowledge of proper insects and pests can help you take necessary measures if required.
As a responsible family member, you can avoid serious skin problems and infection with quick actions. After reading the guide, you will be able to understand whether you are attacked by bed bugs or by any other insects.
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