Are These Bed Bugs In My Yakima County Home?

If you've caught a bug, and you're wondering whether or not it is a bed bug, it is fairly easy to find out. You can do a search for bed bug pictures on the internet and compare them to the bug you've captured. The tricky part is figuring out if a bug you've seen in your home is a bed bug, when it scrambled out of sight and you can no longer see it. Bed bugs are particularly difficult to identify since they can look quite a bit different, depending on their stage of development, and other key factors. Let's take a look at a few characteristics that can help you with identification.

Yakima Bed Bugs

There are around 90 bed bug species in the world. In our area, the bed bugs we deal with in our homes are Cimex lectularius. This is the species we will be discussing in this article.

Size

A bed bug is about 1mm long when it first hatches. If you don't know how small that is, we highly recommend looking at a ruler. When you find a newly hatched nymph in your home, it isn't going to be more than a little speck. This can make it difficult to see the unique characteristics that can help you determine that it is a bed bug. But, knowing that a bed bug can be this small is one step toward confirming that you have a bed bug infestation.

A bed bug will pass through five instars as it develops into an adult. Nymphs range in size from 1.5 to 4mm in length, and adults are about 4.5mm long.

Color

When a bed bug first hatches, it is white. Therefore, a newly hatched nymph will be a little, white bug. As it develops, it will become a tan bug that is between 1.5 and 4mm. An adult will be about 4.5 to 5 mm and reddish brown. While knowing the color and size won't give you complete confirmation that you have found a bed bug, it can help decrease the possibilities that you've found another kind of bug.

Shape

Bed bugs start out as a little bit of a pill shape. Over time, they develop into a teardrop shape, and eventually become an oval shape. Therefore, newly hatched nymphs will be 1mm, white-colored, pill-shaped insects. Adults will be reddish-brown, oval-shaped insects.

Legs

All bed bugs have six legs. This helps to tell a maggot from a newly hatched nymph. Maggots don't have legs. But a tick may trick you. A newly hatched tick (known as a seed tick) only has six legs. It develops two more legs later in its development. If you find a tiny, reddish-brown bug with six legs, you might think you've found a bed bug. But, remember, a bed bug is white when it is young—not reddish-brown.

Bloated And Red

A bed bug can look different after it has had a blood meal. These insects become redder and more bloated when they are filled with blood. The red coloration can make a newly hatched bed bug look like a pale insect with a red abdomen (which it technically is at that point). So, if you're looking for a 1mm, pale, pill-shaped insect, you could be fooled by a 1mm, pale and red, bloated insect. Keep this in mind when you seek to identify a bug in your house. Bed bugs may look redder than you expect, and adults aren't always oval-shaped.

Low Profile

If you find an unfed bed bug, it will have a low profile. These are flat bugs.

Black Feces

Bed bugs have black feces. If a bed bug has not had a recent blood meal, you may see black feces inside its body instead of red coloration from blood. This can make a bed bug appear to be a black bug. Bear in mind that this black coloration will only be in the abdomen. So a newly hatched bed bug will look white and black. A developing nymph will look tan with a black abdomen. An adult will be reddish-brown with a hint of black in its abdomen.

If You're Still Confused

Usually, bed bugs provide other visual signs to help you tell that they are bed bugs.

• You're likely to find them all huddled together in a group.
• A dozen bed bugs can easily fit on your thumbnail.
• You'll find black specks or black stains in the area.
• You'll find tiny white eggs. These eggs will be scattered about or in small batches.
• You'll find shed skins. As bed bugs develop through their five instars, they shed their skins.

What To Do When You Find Bed Bugs

If you properly identify bed bugs in your Yakima County home, contact the Yakima County pest experts at Prosite. We provide industry-leading bed bug control in Yakima County. We can also identify the insect pests in your home if you are unable to do so. Reach out to us today for immediate assistance with your pest problem. We can help.