Bed bugs are reddish brown in colour. They are oval shaped, flat and 4 to 5 mm long, or about the size of an apple seed. Juvenile bed bugs, called nymphs, are pale and translucent.
Bed bugs are found near the bed and where people sleep, which may be the recliner, sofa or floor mat. When not feeding at night, the insects hide in tight cracks and crevices, usually within close distance to where people sleep or spend time. With large infestations, however, bed bugs travel further distances, even through walls into other rooms and apartment units.
Bed bugs are found in the seams of mattress ticking, in the wood joints of bedside tables and bed frames, behind baseboards and pictures on the wall, in the seams of upholstered furniture, even in the mechanical workings of motorized wheelchairs and laptop computers. In a severe bed bug infestation, large groups of bed bugs will huddle together. In very bad infestations, they may gather in the corners of ceilings.
It’s easy to mistake bed bugs for other pests including fleas, baby cockroaches, book lice, carpet beetles, spider beetles, bat bugs and bird bugs, which are similar in size or colour.
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