If you have bed bugs, there will come a time in the infestation when you will not have to wonder if the bugs that are plaguing you are bed bugs. These are blood eaters that crawl to get at you. That means you’ll see them crawling across your desk while you’re working on the computer. You’ll see them crawling on the arm of your chair. You’ll see them crawling across the couch. There will be no doubt that these bugs are zeroing in on you. Bed bugs are blood-eating insects. That means they have six legs, like all insects do, and they are attracted to warm-blooded creatures, like you. But the goal of this article is to help you recognize them before they get to a point where they are attacking you by the dozens while you’re watching television, playing games on the computer, sleeping, or doing pretty much anything in your home.

Bed Bug Identification

• First of all, these creatures are small. The average bed bug will not be larger than a pea. But long before they get that big, they will be plaguing you. Bed bugs go through five developmental stages (instars) before they get to adult size, and they must feed on blood to develop. Most often, bed bugs will hitchhike as larvae, since they can be much harder to see when they are smaller. So you’re looking for a bug that could be about the size of the tip on a pen. This is actually a much more helpful visual cue than you might imagine. There are few bugs this size that will crawl on you or sit in one place biting you.
• Bed bugs crawl quickly. Since these pests are so small, the best way to identify them is by their behavior. They don’t jump like fleas. They don’t fly like mosquitoes. And they are much faster than ticks when they crawl. If you see a non-flying insect crawling quickly on your skin, there is a good chance it is a bed bug.
• If you snatch something up off your skin and look at it closely, there are a few things you will quickly notice if the bug you are holding is a bed bug. It will have six legs, a hard insect casing, and horizontal indentations across its oval abdomen.
• Bed bugs are usually blood red to black in color. This coloring will get darker as it develops toward adulthood.

If you find bed bugs in your Atlanta home, call Active Pest Control for the most advanced treatment options available. These are resilient and resourceful bugs that are extremely hard to get rid of.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite. When you have Active Pest Control, it’s all good.