What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?

Key Takeaways

• Adult bed bug appearance: Roughly the size and shape of an apple seed, these pests are reddish-brown, flat, and oval-shaped before feeding.

• Nymph appearance: Young bed bugs are much smaller, translucent or whitish-yellow, and turn bright red immediately after a blood meal.

• Bed bug eggs: Pearl-white and about the size of a pinhead, eggs are usually glued in clusters near mattress seams or crevices.

• Signs of an infestation: Beyond seeing the bugs themselves, look for dark fecal spots, rust-colored blood stains, and shed translucent shells.

What do adult bed bugs look like?

Adult bed bugs are usually the easiest stage to identify. They are visible to the naked eye and typically measure about 5 to 7 millimeters long, or roughly the size of an apple seed. Because other pests like bat bugs or carpet beetles are often mistaken for bed bugs, knowing these specific features is key to proper identification. Adult bed bugs have the following physical features:

• Flat, oval-shaped bodies

• Reddish-brown coloring before feeding

• Six legs

• Two short antennae

• No wings, even though they have small wing pads

• No ability to fly or jump

Bed bugs move by crawling and can travel quickly across floors, walls, furniture, and ceilings.

What do bed bug nymphs look like?

Before they reach adulthood, bed bugs go through five immature stages. These juveniles are called nymphs. Newly hatched nymphs are exceptionally small, about 1.5 millimeters, or the size of a pinhead. Unlike the dark brown adults, unfed nymphs are translucent or pale whitish-yellow, making them incredibly difficult to spot against a white mattress or light-colored sheets.

However, their camouflage disappears as soon as they feed. Once a nymph takes a blood meal, its abdomen plumps up and turns a brilliant, bright red, often looking like a tiny moving raspberry seed. As they progress through their five molting stages, they gradually grow larger and darker until they reach full adult maturity.

Signs of Bed Bugs in Your Home

Because bed bugs are nocturnal and experts at hiding in tight crevices, you are far more likely to notice the evidence they leave behind before you see an actual live bug. Signs of a bed bug infestation include the presence of blood spots on bedding, bed bug droppings, which are reddish-black, and shed skins also known as shells or casings from molting.

What do bed bug shells look like?

Bed bug shells, or casings, are the insect's exoskeleton. A nymph will outgrow and shed its shell during each stage of its life cycle until it reaches adulthood. Bed bug casings are usually translucent and vary in size depending on how old the nymph is. During an infestation, these can usually be found near different parts of the bed including the mattress and headboard.

Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Knowing what bed bugs look like is the first step to kicking them out for good. However, because they're expert hiders and can multiply faster than you can say "pest control," correctly identifying them and treating them effectively is a job for a professional.

Schedule an inspection with an Orkin Pro to put your bed bug problem to rest so you can sleep at night.

More on Bed Bug Control

How to identify bed bugs?

Learn what bed bugs look like, and how to detect if you have a bed bug Infestation.

How do you get bed bugs?

Find out how bed bugs infiltrate your home and where they are attracted to.

How serious are bed bugs?

Learn about bed bug bites, their feces and how they can impact your health.

What Orkin does

Learn how Orkin handles bed bugs, homeopathic cures and the cost of bed bug extermination services.