What do bed bugs look like?

Bed bugs are really interesting pests because, like other pests, they go through a variety of life stages. And that’s characterized by basically going from a small bug to a big bug. When bed bugs are very small in their early stages of development, they’re typically transparent, so you actually can’t see them unless they’ve just fed on blood and are full of blood, which is what you see through a transparent bug. When they get a little bit older, they become slightly larger and take on a reddish to brown coloration, typically, and they’re a little bit easier to spot. 

But during an inspection, the main thing I look for, if I’m looking around the seams of a mattress or a headboard at a hotel room for example, is looking for the fecal spots they leave behind. And those are typically a pretty dark or almost black color, and so they contrast really well with usually the white ticking on a mattress. 

And so that’s something that I look for: those fecal spots, indicative that they’ve been feeding and living in that area for some time.