How to find bed bugs: Conduct your own investigation. Keep in mind that bed bug bites are not enough to determine an infestation because bed bug bites look similar to mosquito bites and flea bites. Is your head itchy? Then you’re probably not dealing with bed bugs. Where to find bed bugs: If you found the bug in the bed, then odds are higher that you may have bed bugs. For starters, where did you find the suspected bed bug? Not all bed bug look-alikes are hiding in the mattress, so where you find the bug can help you with identification. Photo Credit: Piotr Naskrecki / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainĪlthough bed bugs have many doppelgängers, some signs may point to a bed bug infestation. Knowing safe and effective ways to remove lice can help you manage these risks. Excessive scratching may increase your chance of developing a secondary skin infection. Health risk: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), head lice may cause severe itchiness in the scalp and lack of sleep. Where head lice hide: Head lice typically gather near the lower back of the head and behind the ears. If you have head lice and don’t get treatment, the lice will continue to feed on your blood and may excrete dark red feces onto your scalp. The female is about 1/16 to 1/8-inch long, whereas the male is a bit smaller. Head lice affect only people and are typically gray but can take on their host’s hair color. Lice are host specific, so lice infesting dogs can’t migrate to you, and you can’t transmit this pest to your dog. Is it a bed bug or lice? These two pests often are mistaken for each other. Head Lice: Gilles San Martin / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 It’s as essential to know how to remove a tick as it is to know how to identify a tick. If these diseases are left untreated, many can become life-threatening. Health risk: Ticks can pass many pathogens, such as Lyme disease, to people, pets, and other animals. Tick infestations indoors are rare, but they can occur if a female tick lays her eggs in your home. Occasionally a tick may be found indoors after being brought inside. Where ticks hide: Ticks are most commonly found attached to their host or outdoors in moist, shady areas with tall grass or overgrown vegetation. Most ticks are small, dark in color, and flat when unfed. There are many types of ticks, each with different physical traits. Ticks not only feast on human blood but attach to pets, livestock, and wild animals, too. Bed bugs, which are insects, have six legs and ticks, which are arachnids, have eight. The key difference? The number of their legs. Ticks are blood-sucking parasites, like bed bugs, and they can resemble each other until you look closely. Carpet beetles also leave behind molted shells. The damage usually appears in one ruined patch, rather than many scattered holes. Health risk: Carpet beetle larvae don’t pose much danger to you, but they can cause significant damage to your carpet or your favorite wool sweater. Where carpet beetles hide: You’ll usually find carpet beetles around the edges of rugs and carpets, underneath upholstered furniture, or underneath baseboards. They’ll make an exception, though, if your carpet has a blend of synthetic materials, animal fabrics, food, sweat, and oils. Despite their name, they’re not fans of eating the synthetic materials of today’s carpet. These small pests feast on your animal origin materials, including furs, wools, feathers, or leather. There are many species of carpet beetles, including the black, common, furniture, and varied carpet beetle. BookliceĬarpet Beetle: Udo Schmidt / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0Īdult carpet beetles vary in length, are oval-shaped, and can appear to be bed bug look-alikes. People allergic to cockroaches may experience asthma attacks, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Health risk: Because bacteria sticks to a cockroach’s body, cockroaches may spread illnesses such as salmonella and gastroenteritis. You may even see cockroaches hiding in your crawl space, bathroom, or basement.Ĭockroach nymphs in your home may be a sign of an infestation. Prime breeding grounds include restaurants, grocery stores, commercial kitchens, sewers, and steam tunnels. Where cockroach nymphs hide: Cockroaches thrive in moist areas, especially where food is prepared or stored. Because they’re nymphs, they haven’t grown their cockroach wings, which also leads people to confuse them with bed bugs. Cockroaches have a flattened, oval appearance, long antenna, and long bristly legs.ĭepending on the species, color ranges from reddish-brown to dark brown and from tan to black. These young varieties of the most common cockroaches include German, American, brown-banded, and Oriental cockroaches. Baby Cockroach: patrickkavanagh / Flickr / CC BY 2.0īaby cockroaches (cockroach nymphs) are often confused with bed bugs because of their similar coloring.
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