Other Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs
Who wants bugs in their house? Pests do a lot of harm to your household. You may often find tiny bugs that look like bed bugs on your sofa or bed. Knowing the difference between a look-a-like and a real bed bug requires you to learn some individual aspects of both of them.
How to Identify a Bed Bug?
Usually, when bed bugs are fully grown up, they appear reddish-brown. The body of the insect is long and has an oval shape. If you compare the body size and shape of the insect it almost looks like an apple seed. Some bed bugs look brown and may take on the shape of a tiny brown balloon. Bed bugs are like leeches since they fed on your blood.
Due to the similar body color and shape most of us make the wrong identification of these bed bugs and get confused with other bugs that look like bed bugs.
Harmful effects of bug infestation in your home
Bed bugs are terrible, but not more than other pests. They can harm you along with your household in several ways. Here are a few of its harmful characteristics-
- First of all a bed bug manifestation in your house can make you mentally unwell. Your house is in the most pathetic situation when it gets the severe bug manifestation
- The worst part about them is they feed themselves on your blood
- Sometimes their bites can get severe causing skin rashes, allergic reactions in some people, itching, sleeplessness and infections.
How to know the difference between bed bugs and other bugs
Here, you will get to know some simple techniques of recognizing bed bugs from other bugs in your home.
Booklice
The first that comes in the list is booklice. Unlike the reddish-brown body color of the bedbugs, it has a creamy or pale brown color on its body. Bedbugs have an oval shape body. The body shape of the booklice is segmented. It means they have a separate head and a body. You can even identify this specific insect by their body size.
The booklice body size is about 3/16 inch in length.
Both of them can be seen in a different parts of the world. The harmful nature of the bed bugs is more severe than that of booklice. While bed bugs bite, booklice never bite. They feed on grain, fungi, mold, etc. though they do not spread disease or destroy furniture. Their presence in a large number in your house can be irritating but harmless.
Bat Bugs
The most specific difference between the two insects is its body color. As you already know that the bed bugs are reddish-brown or mahogany in color, the bat bugs look light brown or beige. The similarity in their oval body shape can be confusing, but their color is different.
Unlike bed bugs, bat bugs are seen only in the United States. Both bugs fed on blood, but bed bugs target human beings. On the other hand, bat bugs feed only on the blood of bats. Differentiating both the bugs can be a little hard, but a close view of their body will tell the difference. Bat bugs are mostly seen where there are bat colonies.
Carpet Beetles
Carpet beetles are other bugs that look like bed bugs, both of them have a similar oval body shape. The easiest way to tell the difference between them is by their body color. Carpet beetles have a black body with white patterns in them; they even have red or orangish scales in their bodies. Both insects are commonly found in the household. Carpet beetles mainly feed on stuff that is made with silk, fur, wool, leather, skin, etc.
Though they are not blood-sucking, they can live on hair lint, etc. The places where the carpet beetles are found are somewhat similar to the bed bugs. You can find them in the mattress, inside the ducts and the floor vents, etc.
Spider Beetles
Spider beetles come in several body colors; few of them match the color with the bed bugs. Usually, you can find the spider beetles ranging in colors like pale brown, brownish yellow, reddish-brown and even in black. The reddish-brown ones are exact in color like the bed bugs. One other reason behind the similarity of both the insects is the oval shape of their body and spider beetles have a hump in their back which is unlike the apple seed shape of the bed bugs.
The spider beetles are not that harmful. They mainly feed on food grains. Again, the two insects are found in the same locations such as crevices and cracks.
Cockroach Nymphs
Cockroach nymphs are mistaken for bed bugs more then any other insect. Due to its reddish-brown and kind of oval-shaped body, people often mistake it as the bed bugs. But, when you look closer you will notice that the nymphs are more likely to have a cylindrical body shape.
Similar to the bed bugs, they hide in the cracks or holes in the house. Nymphs might not suck your blood but nevertheless a cockroach infestation may lead you to a serious asthmatic condition.
Be it a bug or bed bug do not leave them in your house to increase their numbers. These kinds of insects harm both your health and your household. If you are unable to clear the infestation alone call a professional exterminator.
By CW Mathews
