Bed bugs are one of the most stressful pests a homeowner can discover. They are small, excellent at hiding, and can be carried from one place to another without anyone realizing it.
Despite the name, bed bugs are not limited to beds. They can hide in furniture, baseboards, wall cracks, luggage, clothing, and many other protected spaces around a room.
One of the most important things to understand about bed bugs is that having them does not mean a home is dirty. Bed bugs are hitchhikers. They are looking for people to feed on, not crumbs or garbage.
They can appear in immaculate homes just as easily as anywhere else.
How Do Bed Bugs Get Into a Home?
Bed bugs usually arrive by being carried in on belongings.
They may be picked up in hotels, apartments, dormitories, public transportation, offices, waiting rooms, or other places where people and their belongings regularly come and go.
They can also be brought into a home on used furniture, mattresses, clothing, luggage, backpacks, boxes, or other personal items.
Common ways bed bugs may be introduced include:
- Luggage after traveling
- Overnight bags and backpacks
- Used furniture or mattresses
- Clothing
- Moving boxes
- Visitors’ belongings
- Items brought home from another infested residence
A bed bug infestation does not necessarily mean someone recently traveled. In apartments and other multi-unit buildings, bed bugs may sometimes move between neighboring units through cracks, wall spaces, or utility openings.
What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?
Adult bed bugs are small, flat insects with reddish-brown bodies. They are often compared in size and shape to an apple seed.
Young bed bugs, called nymphs, are smaller and may be pale or nearly translucent before feeding.
Bed bugs do not fly and they do not jump. They crawl.
Their flattened bodies allow them to hide in incredibly narrow spaces, which is one reason an infestation can be difficult to locate and eliminate.
Where Do Bed Bugs Hide?
Bed bugs generally remain close to places where people spend long periods resting or sleeping.
The bed is an obvious place to inspect, but it is only the beginning.
Bed bugs may hide in mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards, nightstands, couches, recliners, baseboards, carpet edges, electrical covers, picture frames, and cracks in furniture.
As an infestation grows, they may spread farther away from the original sleeping area.
This is why simply throwing away a mattress does not necessarily eliminate a bed bug problem.
The mattress may contain bed bugs, but there may already be others hiding throughout the room.
What Are the Signs of Bed Bugs?
Seeing an actual bed bug is the clearest evidence, but homeowners often notice other signs first.
Possible signs include:
- Small reddish or brown stains on sheets or mattresses
- Dark spotting around mattress seams or furniture
- Shed skins
- Tiny pale eggs or eggshells
- Live bugs hiding in seams or cracks
- Unexplained bites appearing after sleeping
- Bed bug activity around beds or upholstered furniture
Bites alone cannot reliably confirm a bed bug infestation.
People react differently to bites. Some develop itchy red welts, while others may show very little reaction.
Other insects and skin conditions can also produce similar symptoms.
Finding physical evidence of the insects is much more useful than trying to identify bed bugs based only on bites.
Why Are Bed Bugs So Hard to Get Rid Of?
Bed bugs are remarkably good at hiding.
A homeowner may treat the mattress but miss insects behind the headboard. Another group may be hidden inside a nightstand, along the baseboard, or beneath furniture.
Their eggs can also be difficult to see.
This means successful bed bug treatment usually requires a thorough approach rather than simply spraying the areas where bugs have been noticed.
Bed bugs can also survive for extended periods without feeding, so leaving a room unused is generally not an effective solution.
Moving to another bedroom can actually make matters worse by encouraging the insects to spread into additional areas in search of a host.
Be Careful With Do-It-Yourself Treatments
Bed bugs understandably make people want to act immediately, but some DIY methods can make professional treatment more difficult.
Foggers or “bug bombs,” for example, may not reach the narrow cracks where bed bugs are hiding and can sometimes cause insects to scatter into additional areas.
Repeatedly spraying random household products may produce a similar problem.
Using excessive amounts of pesticides can also create unnecessary exposure risks for people and pets.
A targeted treatment plan based on where the bed bugs are actually hiding is much more useful than treating the entire room indiscriminately.
What Can You Do If You Suspect Bed Bugs?
Avoid moving furniture, bedding, clothing, or other belongings into another room until you know what you are dealing with.
Moving infested items can spread bed bugs throughout the house.
Keep clothing and linens contained rather than carrying them loosely through the home.
Heat from a clothes dryer can be useful for items that can safely tolerate the appropriate dryer temperature. Bedding, clothing, and other washable materials may be laundered and dried according to the item’s care instructions.
Vacuuming can also remove some bed bugs and eggs from accessible surfaces, but it should be considered part of the process rather than a complete treatment.
After vacuuming, dispose of the vacuum contents carefully so insects are not accidentally released elsewhere.
Should You Throw Away Your Mattress?
Not necessarily.
Many mattresses and pieces of furniture can be treated successfully.
Throwing furniture away can become expensive, and carrying an infested mattress through the house may spread bed bugs along the way.
If something truly needs to be discarded, it should be handled carefully so other people do not take an infested item home.
Before throwing away beds or furniture, it is usually better to have the infestation evaluated.
When Should You Call a Pest Control Professional?
If you find a bed bug, see suspicious spotting or shed skins, or continue waking up with unexplained bites, having the area inspected can help determine what is actually happening.
Early detection is especially valuable with bed bugs because a smaller, localized infestation is generally easier to address than one that has had time to spread throughout several rooms.
At Underworld Pest Control, we can inspect suspected bed bug activity, identify areas where they may be hiding, and recommend an appropriate treatment approach.
Bed bugs can happen to anyone.
The important thing is not to panic, spread belongings throughout the home, or rely on random treatments that may push the insects into additional hiding places.
If you suspect bed bugs, finding out exactly what you are dealing with is the best first step toward getting your home — and your sleep — back.