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What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?

June 20, 2014 by Rob

Image credit: Wikimedia

Maybe your family stayed in a hotel and wound up with suspicious itchy marks on their arms. Or you noticed your mattress seemed unusually dirty last time you changed the sheets. Maybe you found some red/brown spotting on your sheets. Perhaps you found some kind of tiny bug in your bedroom and aren’t sure what it is.

You’ve heard news lately of a bed bug resurgence. So chances are that if you’ve seen possible signs of bed bugs, you are a little suspicious. The next thing you probably want to know is: what do bed bugs look like?

Bed bugs usually find dark places to hide. If you can’t seem to find one and inspect it directly, you’ll have to rely more on other signs of bed bugs. But if you do manage to catch hold of something you think is a bed bug, here is what you need to know.

  • Bed bugs are flat, oval-shaped and very small in size.
  • Bed bug hatchlings have been compared in size to poppy seeds.
  • Adults can grow to 1/4 of an inch long.
  • Bed bugs have 6 slender legs along with medium-long antennae at the top of their head.
  • Bed bugs do not have any wings.

Bed bug illustration

This clearly shows the structure of a bed bug:

Image credit: Illustration and Design by Meghan Byrnes

Adult bed bug

Adults are reddish brown in color:

Image credit: bedzine

Bed bug nymph

Nymphs (younger bed bugs) are lighter:

Image credit: liz.novack

Read more about: Bed Bug Symptoms and Detection

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