Signs of Bed Bugs: What to Look For in Your Arizona Home
- What the signs look like
- Where to look first
- Free in-home inspection
- Licensed & insured, AZ #8129
The earliest signs John Taylor tells people to watch for are bites and small blood spots on the sheets where you sleep. Bites cannot settle whether you have bed bugs, and plenty of other things get mistaken for them.
- The earliest signs to watch for
- What each sign looks like
- Where to look, in order
- Whether it is really a bed bug
Call 623-451-0541 for a free in-home inspection. Calls answered 7 days a week, 7 AM to 7 PM.
The earliest signs of bed bugs
Bites alone cannot prove anything, and the bites guide explains why. The blood spots are the reason to look closer.
How long a problem goes unnoticed is different for everyone. Sometimes it is a couple of days. Sometimes it is a few months. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises finding an infestation early, before it becomes established or spreads, and notes that a small problem is also harder to detect.
What bed bugs leave behind
The descriptions in this section and the next follow the EPA's published bed bug guidance. John looks for the bugs, the spotting, the eggs, and the casings at an inspection.
What a bed bug looks like
Adults
An adult bed bug is about the size of an apple seed, 3/16 to 1/4 inch long. One that has not fed recently is brown, with a flat, oval body. One that has fed recently is reddish-brown, swollen, and longer.
Young bed bugs
Young bed bugs are smaller and translucent or whitish-yellow. One that has not fed recently can be close to invisible to the naked eye.
Eggs
Eggs are pearl-white and the size of a pinhead.
Where to look first
John's order is beds, couches, recliners, and computer chairs. Those are the places people spend most of their time.
- Beds: Check the seams, the piping, and the tags of the mattress and the box spring. Then check the cracks in the bed frame and the headboard.
- Couches and recliners: Look along the seams and between the cushions.
- Computer chairs: Look along the seams.
Look at what you can see, and do not take anything apart. A good flashlight is all John usually needs at an inspection, and it is all you need here.
Is it really a bed bug?
John is skeptical when a caller says Google told them it is a bed bug. As he puts it, Google says almost every bug is a bed bug. People have sent him photos of all kinds of things they believed were bed bugs, from ordinary household dirt to carpet beetles.
Bed bugs and other insects each have distinct features, and telling them apart takes someone who knows the bugs. The EPA's guidance makes a related point: other insects, such as carpet beetles, are easily mistaken for bed bugs.
The inspection is free, whatever John finds. If it is something else, or nothing at all, he tells you so.
If you think you have found one
Take a clear, close-up photo of it if you can. Text it to John at 623-451-0541, or call him at the same number. Then leave everything right where it is. Do not take the bed or the furniture apart, and do not carry anything outside. The inspection page explains why moving things makes the problem harder to deal with.
What Phoenix-area customers found out
From a Bed Bugs Arizona customer “John came out, looked over everything & let me know there were some carpet beetles but no bed bugs! Great sense of relief and all at no charge.”
Jessica Daniels, Google reviewFrom a Bed Bugs Arizona customer “I took a picture of the other red flake and at first the app said it found no insect. I took another pic and it said the bug was a bed bug. I enlarged the pic and it certainly looked like it wasn’t an insect. I sent John the picture and he confirmed that it was not one.”
David Lerner, Google reviewFrom a Bed Bugs Arizona customer “Was at my house under 2 hours, inspected & found no bedbugs. Later sent John photos of suspicious bugs and he responded immediately that they weren't bedbugs.”
Thomas Little, Google review
Questions about the signs of bed bugs
Can you see bed bugs with the naked eye?
Adults, yes, and the apple-seed comparison above is a fair guide to the size. The young ones who have not fed recently are the hardest to spot.
Can I have bed bugs and not know it?
Yes. Not everyone reacts to the bites, so the dark spotting or the shed skins in the table above can be the first thing anyone notices.
Is it bed bugs or carpet beetles?
Carpet beetles are one of the things people report to John as bed bugs. Take a clear, close-up photo if you can; John may ask for it. An inspection settles it.
Should I pull the bed apart to check?
No. A flashlight on the seams you can already see is enough, and anything it cannot settle is what the free inspection is for.
What does it cost to have John check?
Nothing. The in-home inspection is free, and there is no obligation to book a treatment.
Not sure what you are looking at? Call John.
Call 623-451-0541 for a free in-home inspection. Calls answered 7 days a week, 7 AM to 7 PM.
What to have ready when you call
- What you found, and where you found it
- How long it has been going on
- The photo, if you managed to get one
Bed Bugs Arizona
623-451-0541- Licensed & insured, AZ #8129
- You can text a photo of the bug to 623-451-0541, and John will reply.