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If you have a bed bug infestation, it is best to find it early, before the infestation becomes established or spreads. Treating a minor infestation, while an inconvenience, is far less costly and easier than treating the same infestation after it becomes more widespread.
However, low-level infestations are also much more challenging to find and correctly identify. Other insects, such as carpet beetles, can be easily mistaken for bed bugs. If you misidentify a bed bug infestation, it gives the bugs more time tospread to other areas of the house or hitchhike a ride tosomeone else's house to start a new infestation. Learn about identifying bed bugs.
Bites on the skin are a poor indicator of a bed bug infestation. Bed bug bites can look like bites from other insects (such as mosquitoes or chiggers), rashes (such as eczema or fungal infections), or even hives. Some people do not react to bed bug bites at all.
On this page:
- Looking for signs of bed bugs
- Where bed bugs hide
- Bed bug behavior and habits
Looking for Signs of Bed Bugs
Photo of a person's arm with bed bug bites (courtesy of Harold Harlan, AFPMB)
Closeup of blood on a chair (Photo courtesy of Harold Harlan)
A more accurate way to identify a possible infestation is to look for physical signs of bed bugs. When cleaning, changing bedding, or staying away from home, look for:
- Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed.
- Dark spots (about this size: •), which are bed bug excrement and may bleed on the fabric like a markerwould.
- Eggs and eggshells, which are tiny (about 1mm) and pale yellowskins that nymphs shed as they growlarger.
- Live bed bugs.
Where Bed Bugs Hide
Canvas strap of old box spring covering that is housing adults, skin castings, feces, and eggs. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Louis Sorkin)
When not feeding, bed bugs hide in a variety of places. Around the bed, they can be found near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard.
If the room is heavily infested, you may find bed bugs:
- In the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains.
- In drawer joints.
- In electrical receptacles and appliances.
- Under loose wall paper and wall hangings.
- At the junction where the wall and the ceiling meet.
- Even in the head of a screw.
Since bed bugs are only about the width of a credit card, they can squeeze into really small hiding spots. If a crack will hold a credit card, it could hide a bed bug.
Close up of bed bug eggs on cardboard
Photo courtesy: Harold Harlan
Bed bugs along the side of a window frame
Photo courtesy: Jung Kim
Bed bugs along the bottom edge of an electrical outlet
Bed Bug Behavior and Habit
Understanding the behavior of bed bugs (how they eat, live, and reproduce) will help you to find an infestation before it becomes established and to monitor for the presence of bed bugs after your home has been treated.
Feeding:
- Appear to prefer to feed on humans, but will feed on other mammals and birds as well.
- Will readily travel 5-20 feet from established hiding places (called harborage) to feed on a host.
- Even though they are primarily active at night, if hungry they will seek hosts in full daylight.
- Feeding can take 3-12 minutes.
- The rusty or tarry spots found on bed sheets or in bug hiding places are because 20% of the time adults and large nymphs will void remains of earlier blood meals while still feeding.
Life stages/mating:
- Bed bugs need at least one blood meal before the individual bug can develop to the next of the six life stages.
- They can feed more than once.
- Each stage also requires the molting of skin.
- To continue to mate and produce eggs, both males and females must feed at least once every 14 days.
- Each female may lay 1 to 3 eggs per day and 200-500 eggs per her lifetime (6-12 months but could be longer).
- Egg-to-egg life cycle may take four to five weeks under favorable conditions.
Living conditions:
- Bed bugs can survive and remain active at temperatures as low as 7°C (46°F), but they die when their body temperatures reaches 45°C (113°F).
- To kill bed bugs with heat, the room must be even hotter to ensure sustained heat reaches the bugs no matter where they are hiding.
- Common bed bugs are found almost anywhere their host can live.
- Tropical bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus) require a higher average temperature than the common bed bug and are found in tropical and subtropical areas.
FAQs
How do you detect bed bugs with UV light? ›
When finding bed bugs with a black light, turn it on first and check the corner seams of your mattress. Track the light across the seam until you spot the glowing trail. Bed bugs leave behind a debris trail of their blood and waste. Follow this trail until you find its end.
What can bring bed bugs out of hiding? ›- Turn off the light, or at least dim the room. Nocturnal feeders are averse to light and being exposed.
- Be in the room. ...
- Place a source of heat in the room. ...
- Release some carbon dioxide near their hiding spots. ...
- Finally, disturb the places where the bed bugs usually hide.
This publication describes several tools that help detect the presence of bed bugs. Many commercial bed bug monitors are available for detecting bed bugs. Among them, pitfall-style traps are the most cost-effective for detecting bed bugs (Wang et al.
Are bed bugs hard to locate? ›Bed bugs are notoriously hard to find and even harder to get rid of, especially if you live in densely populated places like New York City. But despite their sneakiness, it isn't impossible for a vigilant homeowner or apartment renter to recognize the early signs of a bed bug infestation.
Is it hard to find evidence of bed bugs? ›Detecting bed bugs can be difficult, as they are small in size and able to hide in tiny cracks and crevices. However, evidence of a bed bug infestation may be found in bedding and on mattresses. Live bed bugs leave clusters of dark brown or black spots of dried excrement on infested surfaces.
Can bed bugs be killed by UV light? ›This project strongly suggests that UV light is effective, both in killing bed bugs, and in impairing their ability to reach a host.
How long does it take to see proof of bed bugs? ›Most people do not realize they have been bitten until bite marks appear anywhere from one to several days after the initial bite. The bite marks are similar to that of a mosquito or a flea — a slightly swollen and red area that may itch and be irritating. The bite marks may be random or appear in a straight line.
Do bed bugs hide when the light is on? ›Bed bugs are also known to hide around light switches and electrical outlets as well as light fixtures in the ceiling. They may also be found in other unusual locations.
What if I've only seen one bed bug? ›One bed bug in a home is not always a sign that a significant infestation is present. If you found the one-bed bug, killed it and can't find any more after a thorough search, wait for a few days… bed bugs don't take time off; if there are more, they will try and fed every day if possible. Be Vigilant!
Can blood spots on sheets not be bed bugs? ›It's important to note that finding blood stains on your bed sheets does not automatically mean you have bed bugs. Blood stains can happen for several reasons. You could have itched a scab while you were sleeping or reopened a cut while tossing and turning.
What time are bed bugs most active? ›
Bed bugs are most active between midnight and 3 am. They are rarely active during daylight hours, and only come out when attracted by the warmth and carbon dioxide released from a body at rest.
Do bed bugs have a natural enemy? ›Shortlist of bed bug predators are:
American Cockroaches. Thanatus Flavidus Spiders. House Centipedes. The Masked Hunter also known as the Masked Bed Bug Hunter.
One scent that bed bugs find appealing is dirty laundry or dirty bedding because of how it smells once it's come in contact with humans. Research has shown that bed bugs prefer previously worn clothing and used bedding, which is why you shouldn't leave these items on the floor close to your bed.
What is the best bait for bedbugs? ›Fill an old coffee cup with ten tablespoons (150 grams) of sugar, two tablespoons (30 grams) of yeast, and one and a half quarts (one and a half liters) of water, and put it in the middle of an upturned dog bowl. Voila! You have just made a bedbug detector that beats others on the market and is much cheaper.
How long do bed bugs stay in hiding? ›Bed bugs can live for as long as 4.5 months or more in an empty house before completely dying off. The two primary factors that determine how quickly or slowly the bed bugs could die off are the existence of a blood meal host, and the temperature of the house.
Where do bed bugs live before they get in your house? ›If a home isn't available, bed bugs can live outside, typically in areas with high levels of human activity. They can be found in busy campsites, on furniture left outside on street corners, in homeless encampments, and even in taxis, buses, trains and planes.
Where do bed bugs hide if there is no bed? ›As residents sleep, the insects leave their hiding spots to find a host. Home infestations typically occur in mattresses or couches. Bed bug hiding places can also include clothing and linens, under clutter, in wall voids, and around window and door moldings.
Can you have bed bugs but can't find them? ›If you can't find bedbugs but have bites all over the lower half of your body, it could be flea bites. A pet may have brought in the fleas, and they're the ones giving you those bites. Often, if you can't find bedbugs but have bites, they're not your problem.
How can you tell if bed bugs are somewhere? ›- Blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases.
- Dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls.
- Bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide.
- An offensive, musty odor from the bugs' scent glands.
You Can Have Bed Bugs And Not Know It—Here's What To Look Out For. A study in New Jersey found the creepy-crawlers in 12 percent of low-income homes and nearly 50 percent of people were unaware of an infestation.