1 out of 5 people either have experienced the trauma of bedbugs or know someone who has encountered them. As bed bugs are invading America, so are the news becoming more pervasive.
It is no surprise then that people freak out when they have felt a bite or wake up in their bed scratching themselves and automatically assume it’s the result of a bedbug bite.
In their frenzy to locate those pesky blood suckers, they collect anything that remotely looks like a bed bug, including lint, crumbs, dust balls, threads and all sorts of various insects.
Below are pictures of bugs that clients had sent to me, thinking they were bedbugs. In fact, none of these pictures are of bed bugs.
Remember that the pest control industry is now requiring proof that you have bed bugs. They need to identify the insect because treatment for bedbugs is different than treatment for other insects.
In addition, there is a another bug that is closely related to the bed bug and looks just like it. It is called the bat bug. You can only identify which species it is under the high powered microscope by an expert.
The fringe hair located just below a bat bug’s head is longer than that of a bedbug.
If a bat bug does no longer have access to a bat ( it’s primary host), then it will feed on humans and pets. To eliminate bat bugs, you need to eliminate the source, i.e. bats in your attic.
Great article! I am a Pest control provider in my area, and deal with a lot of bed bugs, and have even seen my share of bat bugs. As an expert I would always rather see bed bugs rather than the latter. Very informative article! Glad I bumped into it.
Thanks for your comment. I would think that eliminating bat bugs would be harder than eliminating bed bugs, since often times you can’t reach all the cracks and crevices of an attic and often times, the bats’ entry points may be difficult to locate.
my ex- roommate swore that ground dried garlic upsets the bugs as well. I’m guessing at this point then that nearly any strong scent will dissuade them.