What do bed bugs look like? Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed, and they appear brown when unfed and reddish brown after feasting on blood.
Identifying bed bugs is key to getting these pests out of your bed and home.
How to Identify Bed Bugs
Adults
Adult bed bugs are 5- to 7-mm long and their width is similar to the thickness of a credit card.
When unfed, an adult bed bug looks long and brown and has a flat, oval-shaped body. When full of blood, an adult bed bug appears reddish-brown, enlarged, and more elongated.
This insect has three segments, antenna with four parts, wings not used for flying, and short orange hairs.
Nymphs
Young bed bugs, known as nymphs, are smaller than adults and look whitish-yellow. When not full of blood, young bed bugs can appear translucent. A recently fed nymph will look bright or dark red.
Bed bugs are the size of a poppy seed as soon as they hatch from eggs.
Bed bug eggs are about the size of a pinhead and a pearl-white color.
READ NEXT: How to Check for Bed Bugs
When to Call a Bed Bug Exterminator
Getting rid of bed bugs is hard. As soon as you notice symptoms of bed bugs, call a bed bug exterminator near you. Calling a professional becomes an urgent matter when symptoms are severe, bed bugs grow in large numbers, bed bugs expand their hiding areas, or reinfestation occurs.
READ NEXT: How Do You Get Bed Bugs?
Main image credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/ Harvard University, Dr. Gary Alpert; Dr. Harold Harlan; Richard Pollack. Photo Credit: Piotr Naskrecki / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
