Bed bugs can be difficult to detect! First, if you haven’t yet, read this FAQ: What are bed bugs? Do I have them? What else can cause these symptoms? How can I detect if I have bedbugs? (Remember that bed bug bites look different on different people. There are photos of bed bug bites here. They also look like lots of other conditions. You need to rule out other possibilities per the FAQ above.) Then look at photos of bedbugs and signs of bedbugs. Then look at photos of creatures commonly mistaken for bedbugs. See also these photos of cast skins from bedbugs, compared with cast skins from dermestid beetles, carpet beetles, and German Cockroaches. This FAQ gives a rundown of the latest detection possibilities including canine scent detection, bed bug monitors, and Bed Bug Blue fecal spot detection tests. And consider using the tips in this FAQ, which describes possible ways you might catch a bed bug for identification. Use the DIY trap idea in our flea FAQ to rule out fleas.
If you’re thinking of hiring a bed bug sniffing dog, read this FAQ. Read about Bed Bug Blue Fecal Stain Detection kits. Read about Bed Bug Beacon Active Bed Bug Monitors. Read about Packtite Passive Bed Bug Monitors (aka BBAlert Passive Monitors). Read About ClimbUp (TM) Insect Interceptors. Do bed bugs have a distinctive smell? What do they smell like?Bedbugs have recently reared their insatiable little heads in the Empire State Building, movie theaters, airplanes, apartments, clothing stores, hotel rooms and even Google's Manhattan office. Businesses are now spending thousands of dollars on exterminators and bedbug-sniffing dogs to root out the blood-sucking beasts. And it's no wonder their bites can be itchy and unsightly, and knowing you have bedbugs can lead a person to drastic measures. Arson charges were recently brought against a Phoenix man who doused his bed with cologne and set it on fire because he wanted to be rid of the pests. "It can push people over the edge who are already there," said entomologist Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, a bedbug expert at Cornell University in New York.
"And most people who have them have trouble sleeping because they don't want to be bitten." Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about bedbug bites:What do the bites look like? The bites are small, red and itchy, Gangloff-Kaufmann told MyHealthNewsDaily, but people vary in reaction to them. People might see little red bumps as early as the next morning after being bitten, or they may appear or days or weeks later. "Most people in this country have not been bitten by bedbugs, so everybody doesn't have a history of a reaction like mosquitoes," she said. "A lot of people don't react at all." "That's a big factor in why [they] spread," Gangloff-Kaufmann said. "There are many people who have [them] and don't know it because they didn't have complications from [them]. Bedbugs usually bite exposed areas of skin, such as the arms, neck, face or feet. This makes bedbug bites different from flea bites, which can appear all over the body, even the parts that are covered by clothes, she said.
The bites also tend to appear in a line or a cluster, according to the Mayo Clinic. Can I only be bitten while sleeping or lying very still? You don't have to lie down or be still to get bitten, but because bedbugs usually come out at night and are stealth in their nature, sleeping people are the most likely to be attacked, Gangloff-Kaufmann said. However, bedbugs have been known to bite people while they're up and about or even at work.Can you tell a bedbug bite from other kinds of insect bites? It's hard to tell a bedbug bite from bites of other insects because there's really no difference in how they appear, Gangloff-Kaufmann said. However, with a little sleuthing, you might be able to deduce which type of pest struck. "If it's wintertime, and you stayed in a hotel, and you got bites that look like mosquito bites, those are factors that might lead you to think they might be bedbugs," because mosquitoes aren't around during the winter, she said. Mosquito and bedbug bites often look alike, she said, but most people have a reaction to mosquito bites.
Can you prevent being bitten if you have bedbugs, or are sleeping somewhere you suspect they might be hiding? There is no spray or lotion you can apply to ward off bedbug bites if you already have an infestation, Gangloff-Kaufmann said. But you can put up physical barriers if the insects haven't yet infested your mattress or bed. Make your bed an island by moving it away from the wall and keeping bedding from touching the ground. Then, put a dish with water under each bed leg to prevent the bugs from climbing up into your mattress, she said. "Make it inaccessible," Gangloff-Kaufmann said. "These steps create a barrier for the bedbugs to get to you."If I'm bitten, will I get a disease? Bedbugs are not associated with the transmission of any human disease. However, the bites can leave an open wound on the skin, which can become infected if you scratch, Gangloff-Kaufmann said. Though there is no known link to bedbug bites, infection by opportunistic bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA, has the potential to spread through any open wounds on the body, she said.
Skin creams containing hydrocortisone or taking an oral antihistamine can help relieve the itching sensation of the bites, according to the Mayo Clinic.Though bed bugs have been in the news a lot in recent years, there's a surprising amount of misinformation floating around about these blood-sucking ectoparasites. How much do you know about bed bugs?1. If you wake up with bug bites, you must have bed bugs.With so much news about bed bug infestations, you might immediately think bed bugs are the culprit if you wake up with mysterious bites on your skin.First of all, quite a few other arthropods could be the cause of your bite marks, including fleas, mites, or even bat bugs. Also, many medical conditions cause symptoms that look similar to bug bites. If the marks persist but you don't find signs of an infestation, it might be worth a trip to your doctor.2. I'm the only one in my house with bug bites, so they can't be from bed bugs.If you're the only one in your household waking up with bites, that doesn't exclude bed bugs as the cause.
People react to bed bug bites differently, just as they do with mosquito bites or other insect bites. It's really a matter of how your body reacts to the bed bug saliva when you're bitten. Two people can sleep on the same bed bug infested mattress, and one can wake up without any signs of being bitten while the other is covered in bite marks.3. Bed bugs are so tiny, you can't see them with the naked eye.It's true that bed bugs are pretty small insects, but they aren't microscopic. If you know where to look for them, you can definitely see them without the aid of a magnifier. The bed bug nymph is roughly the size of a poppy seed, and grows larger from there. Bed bug adults measure a bit larger than 1/8th of an inch, or about the size of an apple seed or a lentil. The eggs, which are just the size of a pinhead, will be harder to see without magnification. 4. Bed bugs live in dirty houses. If I keep my home clean, I can't get bed bugs.Bed bugs don't care how neat and tidy your house is, nor do they care if you're the best housekeeper on the block.
As long as you have blood pumping through your veins to provide them with a meal, bed bugs will happily take up residence in your home. The same rule holds true for hotels and resorts. Whether or not a hotel might have bed bugs has nothing to do with how clean or dirty the establishment is. Even a five-star resort can host bed bugs. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that clutter can make it much more difficult to get rid of bed bugs once they're in your home, because they'll have lots of places to hide.5. Bed bugs only bite when it's dark.It's true that bed bugs prefer to do their dirty work under cover of darkness, but light won't stop a hungry bed bug from biting you. In desperation, some people try leaving all their lights on all night, hoping the bed bugs will stay hidden like cockroaches. All that will do is make you more sleep deprived.6. Bed bugs live in mattresses – that's why they're called bed bugs!Yes, indeed, bed bugs do hide in the seams and crevices of your mattress.
Since these nocturnal insects feed on your blood, it's to their advantage to live close to the place where you spend the night. But that doesn't mean bed bugs only live in mattresses. Bed bugs inhabit carpets and couches, dressers and closets, and even places you'd never think to look, like picture frames and switch plate covers. Also, bed bugs aren't limited to living in people's homes. Bed bugs are turning up in movie theaters, on commuter trains, and other places where people congregate, too. Bed bugs…they're not just for beds anymore.7. You can feel it when a bed bug bites you.We're not talking about big bugs here. Bed bugs are pretty small, and their mouths are even smaller. Bed bug saliva contains a substance that serves as a mild anesthetic, so when one bites you, it actually does you the favor of numbing your skin first. It's very unlikely that you'd ever feel a bed bug bite when it happens.8. Bed bugs jump from the floor to the bed.Bed bugs aren't equipped for jumping.
Bed bugs don't have legs adapted for jumping, like fleas or grasshoppers. Bed bugs don't have wings, either, so they can't fly. They're totally reliant on crawling for locomotion, so moving from the floor to the bed requires them to climb up the leg of a bed, or to scale any belongings or furniture you've placed near the bed. This can work to your advantage if you're battling bed bugs, as you can create barriers to keep bed bugs from climbing onto your bed. Use double-sided tape on the bed legs, or place them in trays of water. Of course, if your bed spread touches the floor, the bed bugs can still climb into your bed, and bed bugs have been known to crawl up the wall to the ceiling, and then drop onto the bed.9. Bed bugs transmit diseases to people.So far, scientists have found no evidence that bed bugs are capable of transmitting diseases to human hosts. For this reason, they're considered a nuisance pest rather than a health threat. When bed bug infestations started to rise in the U.S., many health departments and agencies were slow to respond to complaints about bed bugs, because they weren't considered a public health issue and resources weren't allocated for combating them.
But though they don't transmit diseases, bed bugs still pose a health risk. Some people experience severe allergic reactions to bed bug bites, and people who are bitten can suffer from secondary infections of the bite sites. The emotional stress of dealing with a persistent bed bug infestation can also have a negative impact on your health.10. Bed bugs can survive a year without a meal.Technically, this is true. Under the right conditions, bed bugs have been known to survive as long as a year without a meal. Bed bugs, like all insects, are cold-blooded, so when temperatures drop, their body temperatures also decrease. If it gets cold enough, the bed bug's metabolism will slow down, and they'll stop eating temporarily. It's unlikely that it would ever get cold enough in your home to trigger such long period of inactivity, though, so for practical purposes, this statement is false. At normal room temperature, the bed bug might go as long as 2-3 months without taking a blood meal, but that's it.