You can know if you have bed bugs by looking for a combination of physical signs and symptoms:
- Bites on your skin: Small, red, itchy bumps often appear in clusters or lines, commonly on exposed skin areas like arms, shoulders, neck, and face. These bites may cause itching, redness, swelling, or blistering, but some people may have no visible reaction
- Rusty or reddish stains: These stains on bed sheets, pillowcases, or mattresses are caused by bed bugs being crushed
- Dark spots: Small black or dark brown spots about the size of a period or poppy seed, which are bed bug excrement that may bleed on fabric like a marker
- Eggs and eggshells: Tiny (about 1 mm), pale yellow or white oval eggs or shed skins from nymphs molting as they grow
- Shed skins (exoskeletons): Translucent shells left behind as bed bugs grow through life stages
- Live bed bugs: Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed (around 6 mm), reddish-brown, oval, and wingless. They hide in mattress seams, bed frames, headboards, and nearby furniture cracks and crevices
- Musty or sweet odor: A distinctive smell may be noticeable around the sleeping area during infestations
To confirm an infestation, carefully inspect your bed and surrounding areas using a flashlight, checking mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards, and nearby furniture for these signs
. If you find evidence of bed bugs, it is advisable to contact a professional pest control service experienced in bed bug management, as over-the-counter pesticides are often ineffective and can be hazardous if used improperly
. In summary, the key indicators of bed bugs include itchy clustered bites, rusty stains, dark fecal spots, tiny eggs and shells, shed skins, live bugs, and sometimes a musty odor
