What do bedbugs look like? Are you sure you want to know? Well, you probably suspect that bed bugs are in your home. Well, not just in the house, but mainly around the bed – with an emphasis on the base of the bed, the back of the bed and the folds of the mattress. So what do they look like? In this article, we will present to you all their stages – from the egg stage to the adult stage (including signs indicating the presence of bed bugs in the house).
Bed bugs, like other insects in the family Bedbugs, unfortunately feed exclusively on blood . They need these blood meals primarily for your proteins in order to grow, thrive, and reproduce.
Table: Life stages of bedbugs – from egg to adult
| Life stage | Exterior appearance |
|---|---|
| egg | Very small (about 1 mm), white-transparent or slightly yellowish, resembling a tiny grain of rice. [Photos later in the article] |
| Nymph (stage 1) | Small (1-2 mm), transparent or whitish, with a slight reddish tint; difficult to detect with the naked eye. |
| Nymph (stages 2-4) | Gradually grows (2-4 mm), takes on a darker reddish-brown color; no wings but a more well-formed body – the larger the bedbug and the more blood it drinks – the redder the color becomes. |
| Nymph (stage 5) | Close to the adult in size (4-5 mm), darker red-brown color, elongated and clearly visible body. |
| graduate | 5-7 mm in size, dark reddish-brown in color, flat and wide body, six legs and a relatively small head. |
- Bedbug development time
- How often do bed bugs reproduce?
- What do bedbug eggs look like?
- What do bedbugs look like when they just hatch?
- What do bedbugs look like throughout their lives?
- What does an adult bed bug look like?
- Are bed bugs dangerous?
- What do burnt bedbugs look like? Including all their incarnations
Bedbug development time
The development of bedbugs depends primarily on temperature – it seems as if Omar Adam’s poem was sometimes written about bedbugs (or maybe it’s just me thinking that way because of my profession). Below 13 degrees, female bedbugs stop laying eggs. Above 36 degrees, it’s too hot for bedbugs, and at this temperature, their survival and fertility are impaired. But in the State of Israel (like in California, where the weather is similar to ours, but that’s about all the similarities between us) temperatures range mainly between 20-30 degrees, which creates a fertile ground for bedbugs to thrive in the Levant regions.
How often do bed bugs reproduce?
Female fleas need to mate every 5-6 weeks to maintain full fertility, definitely not a bargain.
The number of eggs a female lays per week depends on the temperature. In a warm room (remember, the temperature is between 13-36 degrees) a female is expected to lay between 15-25 eggs per week and over the course of her life the female will lay up to 500 eggs as long as she lives in your bedroom (meaning she has food) and she will continue to mate once every month and a half.
Did you find anything similar? In the last picture you will find burnt bedbugs – and if you would like to read more about our method for controlling bedbugs, you can always call, send a WhatsApp message (even if it is just to identify the bedbugs in your house) or order online on the website (don’t worry, there is no need to pay in advance).
What do bedbug eggs look like?
Bedbug eggs look like a small white grain of rice. You usually won’t find them unless you have a lot of infestation. If you still decide to look for bedbug eggs, look for them in hidden places like under the sheets, the folds of the mattress, the bedding box, and all places that are not exposed to daylight and direct sunlight.
What do bedbugs look like when they just hatch?
The color of bedbugs ranges from bright red to reddish brown. The size of bedbugs depends mainly on what stage they are in their life cycle (bedbugs go through five instars before reaching the adult and final stage) and their full size reaches 5 mm.
What do bedbugs look like throughout their lives?
They are quite similar throughout their life cycle, the only thing that changes is how bright their color is (between bright red and red-brown) and their size (which depends on their life cycle and the amount of food they have consumed).
What does an adult bed bug look like?
Usually when we get the call to come and treat bed bugs, we find mostly adult bed bugs. The reason is simple, when they are adults you really start to notice that they are the ones biting you.
At first comes the denial stage, then a phase of maybe it’s mosquitoes ? Maybe it’s fleas and you’re not so sure what’s biting you.
When they are very small, the visible bite mark on your body will be gone by morning and you won’t even notice. But after a few weeks of suspecting that something is biting you, you realize that it is bed bugs. Now you just have to hunt them down and find the signs.
Are bed bugs dangerous?
Yes and no.. Although a bed bug bite in itself is not dangerous, except in extreme cases where a person is allergic to those bites, which can cause them to have a severe allergic reaction.
In most cases, the bites themselves are not dangerous (and do not cause allergies) and the fact that you are not sleeping alone is what keeps you awake much more than the bites.
What do burnt bedbugs look like? Including all their incarnations
In the picture you can see their color, which has changed from red to almost black, and you can also see the stages exactly according to the book (except for the eggs) after heat treatment that drove them out of their hiding place.
| Type of pest | Signs |
| Bed bugs | Black dots like stains on the bed base, the back of the bed, and in the folds of the mattress. |
| Bedbugs on the back of the bed | Move the head of the bed away from the wall, looking for bedbugs or marks that look like black spots. Do you have fabric on the head of the bed? You will need to tear it off to find the bedbugs and the marks they left. |
| Bedbugs in the closet | If you find bedbugs or signs of bedbugs in your wardrobe, you should wash the clothes in a hot wash – 60 degrees or higher or put them in a dryer for 45 minutes. Can’t do either? Put the delicate clothes (in a closed bag) in the freezer or put them in a car parked in direct sunlight (extreme heat or extreme cold will kill the bedbugs). |
| Bedbugs in a suitcase in a bag | If you returned from a hotel, B&B, or motel, chances are the bedbugs you brought home came with your suitcase or bag. Wash the bag in hot water or put it in the dryer. If it’s a suitcase, vacuum it from every corner, put it in a sealed bag, and put it in the sun in the car on a hot day (by the way, heat treatment will solve this too). |
| Other insects that sting | Fleas – Most of the bites will be on the legs and you will feel the bites both day and night (unlike bedbugs where you will only feel them at night). Mosquitoes – mainly in the afternoon – and if at night then not under clothes (have you been bitten at night under clothes? Suspect bedbugs). Pigeon lice – you will usually feel more itching and fewer bites – look for a pigeon nest around your apartment or house. Spiders – You will usually see a single bite and not a series of bites like with fleas or bedbugs. |
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