Bed Bugs are, as the name indicates, found mostly infesting the bedroom areas. Most times bites are noted during sleep and the insects may be noted at tufts of the mattress/box spring and under side of box spring.

Bed bugs are parasites that preferentially feed on humans.  They are about ¼ to 3/8 inches long. They are a reddish brown-to-brown color. Bed Bugs are sometimes called “red coats,” “chinches,” or “mahogany flats.” The adult bed bug is a wingless insect that is flattened from top to bottom. Their flat shape enables them to readily hide in cracks and crevices. The body becomes more elongated, swollen and dark red after a blood meal. Bed bugs have a beaklike piercing-sucking mouthpart system. Newly hatched nymphs are nearly colorless, becoming brownish as they mature. Eggs are white and about 1/32 inches long.

 A bed bug infestation can be recognized by bloodstains from crushed bugs or by rusty (sometimes dark) spots of excrement on sheets and mattresses, bedclothes, and walls. Fecal spots, eggshells, and shed skins may be found in the vicinity of their hiding places. An offensive, sweet musty odor from their scent glands may be detected when bed bug infestations are severe.

They are usually discovered in unsuspected areas such as in floor cracks, under carpets, behind loose wallpaper or wall pictures, and in old, unused stoves.