Bed Bug Blog

Plain-English guides to bed bug bites, signs, treatments and costs for California homes, rentals and businesses.

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Flat illustration of a mattress seam with pale, empty bed bug shells in growing sizes next to one reddish live bed bug
Bed Bug Identification

What Do Bed Bug Shells Look Like? Shed Skins and What They Mean

What do bed bug shells look like? They are pale, hollow, see-through skins shaped like the bug, left each time a nymph molts. See…

 Flat illustration of a female bed bug next to a row of small white eggs and a blood drop, showing how many eggs a bed bug lays after one blood meal
Bed Bug Identification

How Many Eggs Does a Bed Bug Lay?

How many eggs does a bed bug lay per day? Usually 1 to 7, often 2 to 5, for about 10 days after each…

 Flat illustration of a red spray bottle misting a mattress, with bed bugs in the open marked and other bed bugs hidden in the mattress seam
Bed Bug Treatment

Does Bed Bug Spray Work? How Long It Lasts and Dries

Does bed bug spray work? Most store-bought sprays kill only the bugs they hit and do little once dry, and many bed bugs resist…

 Flat illustration of a timeline of bed bug life stages from a small egg through growing nymphs to a dark adult bed bug, with a calendar
Bed Bug Identification

How Long Do Bed Bugs Live? Lifespan Explained

How long does a bed bug live? Usually several months to about a year. See the full life timeline from egg to adult, how…

 Flat illustration of skin with small red bed bug bite bumps and one larger welt next to a small ruler, showing bite sizes in millimeters
Bed Bug Bites

How Big Are Bed Bug Bites? Size and Color

How big are bed bug bites? Most start as 2 to 5 mm red spots, and welts can reach 2 to 3 cm or…

 Flat illustration of 5 baby bed bug nymphs growing from small and pale to larger and red after a blood meal, next to a millimeter ruler
Bed Bug Identification

What Do Baby Bed Bugs (Nymphs) Look Like?

What does a baby bed bug look like? See all 5 nymph stages drawn to scale (about 1.5 to 4.5 mm), how they turn…

 Illustration of a lower leg with flea bites around the ankle next to an arm with a line of bed bug bites, with a jumping flea and a crawling bed bug
Bed Bug Bites

Bed Bug Bites vs Flea Bites: How to Tell the Difference

How to tell a flea bite from a bed bug bite: where the bites show up on your body, how they look, flea vs…

 Illustration of two forearms, one with 3 bed bug bites in a line under a moon and one with scattered mosquito bites next to a mosquito
Bed Bug Bites

Bed Bug Bites vs Mosquito Bites: How to Tell the Difference

How to tell a mosquito bite from a bed bug bite: compare the bite pattern, timing, body area and season, learn which California mosquitoes…

 Illustration of a person asleep in bed while a small bed bug feeds on their arm, with a note that the bite is usually painless
Bed Bug Bites

Do Bed Bug Bites Hurt? Can You Feel Them?

What do bed bug bites feel like? Most people never feel the bite itself because of the numbing saliva. Learn what you might feel…

 Illustration of a single bed bug sealed in a clear zip bag next to a magnifying glass and a bed, with a note that one bug is not always an infestation
Bed Bug Identification

I Found One Bed Bug: What Should I Do?

Found one bed bug? Here is what to do if you find a bed bug: how to save it for ID, whether one bug…
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