Bed Bug Photos

Bed bug infestations are increasing in our area. The travel industry in the Smoky Mountains means that people from all over the country visit us, and when they do, they carry more than luggage and their tourism dollars. In some cases, they unwittingly transport bed bugs. This is how a hotel in our area might become infested with bed bugs. From there, they can spread throughout the area. But what does a bed bug look like? How do you spot them?

In this section, we’ll show you some bed bug photos, and teach you how to be sure you’re it’s them – or if it’s some other bug.

Pictures of Bed Bugs to Help You Identify Them

In an infested bedroom, you will likely find mature bed bugs on the mattress or box spring, but not necessarily. Mature bed bugs are easy to spot with their flat, round bodies and reddish color. Often, you can also find their feces or blood spots on bedding. Bed bugs don’t always hide in the bed. They enjoy any small crevice they can fit inside – like a crack in the wall or an outlet. They’re excellent hiders and will often wait until after humans have fallen asleep before they emerge for the evening.

Below you’ll find a picture of a male and female bed bug, respectively from left to right. The males have sharper edges to their bodies, whereas the females are more rounded. Honestly, though, you probably don’t care whether they’re male or female – they’re all creepy.

This is a close up shot of a bed bug. You can see their rounded frame. You can also pick up on their flat body type as well. This helps them hide in small crevices around your home.

More Photos to Help Identify Bed Bugs

The problem with using photos of bed bugs to identify bed bugs is that you don’t always see the actual insect. Sometimes, you only see the evidence they leave behind. These photos show what your mattress can look like in the case of a severe bed bug infestation. In addition to the bugs themselves, you’ll also notice the marks. These are mostly feces, with some blood spots too.

Many people come up with the idea of vacuuming their bed to remove bed bugs. We don’t recommend this. While you may succeed in removing the bed bugs from your bed, many of them will go on living in your vacuum cleaner and can be relocated to other areas of your house this way. This creates a much more widespread infestation for you to deal with.

Your bed bug infestation doesn’t have to be as severe as you see in these photos – that’s why it’s important to call a professional bed bug exterminator at the first sign of bed bugs. When it gets this severe, it’s generally the result of neglect by the homeowner or occupant. 

Getting rid of bed bugs can be extremely difficult to do by yourself, but for an experienced pest control technician it’s a fairly routine service. We use a combination of cutting-edge bed bug treatments, including heat, steam, chemical and vacuuming to kill off bed bugs.

Bottom line: there’s nothing fun about having bed bugs, and that’s why we stress being cautious about bed bugs while traveling, at college or in other peoples’ homes. If you do experience a bed bug infestation, give our experienced bed bug exterminators a call for results you can trust.