Identifying Bed Bugs

  • The common bed bug preferred source of food is humans but it will also bite on other warm blooded animals.

  • Adult bed bugs are about 3/16” long and reddish-brown, with oval-shaped, flattened bodies whose only source of food is the blood of the animals it lives around.


  • They hide is small crevices and secretive during the day but then they come out at night to feed.

  • A bed bug bite is painless and may or may not leave a red and/or itchy spot. Because of their small size and painlessness of the bites, bed bugs can often go unnoticed.

  • If you start waking up a notice tiny red blood spots on your sheets that could be a sign you have bed bugs.

  • Bed bugs do not fly or jump but crawl rapidly across floors, walls, and furniture.

  • Bed bugs nymphs and adults are very good at surviving in that they can go months without feeding, that is something that sets bed bugs apart from many other insects who must feed regularly. It is very unlikely that you can “starve out” an infestation by leaving it alone for a long time.

  • Mattress, box springs, headboards, and bed frames are hot spots for bed bugs since they are mainly active at night and their small flat body allows them to hide in tight places during the day. Those areas are usually marked with staining and dark spotting from the dried excrement of the bed bug.

  • The odor of a bed bug infestation is typically not noticeable until the infestation gets to an extreme point. Smell should not be relied on for detecting bed bugs

Bed bugs are nothing new, they have been documented in writings back to the time of Aristotle, however since about 2000 bed bugs have reemerged throughout the U.S., Liberty Pest Control has laid out some identifying traits and habits of the bed bug for our customers.