Identifying a Bed Bug Bite
When did you get your bites? Do you have any idea? If you know you didn't have bites on your back yesterday and now you do, there is a good chance something bit you inside your home. What is tricky with bed bug bites, however, is that you can wake up without any noticeable bites, but then they can swell up during the day. Keep this in mind.
Have you been out recently? If you haven't spent any time in nature, it is harder for bugs to bite you. The vast majority of biting insects can't live inside the environment of your home. Even some of the bugs that can bite you while you're inside aren't able to live long. Bed bugs are one of the few bugs that can. In fact, bed bugs live almost exclusively with humans. You would be hard pressed to find a bed bug outside.
Have you recently been on vacation? One of the places bed bugs are likely to bite you is in a hotel, motel, resort, or some other business that provides sleeping arrangements for guests. While this is certainly not the only place you can pick bed bugs up nowadays, it is still a hotbed for bed bug activity.
Do your bites have little pustules in the center? There are a few pests that can cause a bite that has a blister. Fire ants are a good example. If you were bitten by fire ants, though, you would probably know it. But when you're examining bites on one of your kids or on your pet, they may not be able to communicate to you that they were bitten by ants.
Does your bite have an ulcer at the center? You may think of ulcers as something you get inside your mouth, but sometimes an ulcer can occur in the center of a bite wound. A common pest that can create an ulcer is a brown recluse spider. Bed bug bites do not have an ulcer.
Are your bites on areas of your skin that are normally exposed? Bed bugs can bite locations that would be protected by your clothing when you go outside, such as your sides, arms, the lower portions of your neck, and on your back.
Are you finding bites on your neck and face? Some bugs will rarely bite your face. Fleas, for instance, will get you on your feet, ankles, and legs. Bed bugs, on the other hand, tend to bite the neck and face because they are attracted to carbon dioxide emissions.
Do you have one bite or many bites? You will rarely, if ever, find a single bed bug bite on your skin. Not only do bed bugs feed in groups, but each individual bed bug will feed more than once.
Do your bites follow a path across your skin? Most of the time, a bed bug will bite, move forward, bite, move forward, and bite one more time. Because they do this, bites from bed bugs will often look like a path across the skin.
Do your bites look puffy and random? While mosquito bites can sometimes look like the red welts caused by bed bugs, most of the time they look puffy, due to fluid under the skin. But along with this puffy appearance, mosquitoes usually bite once and fly away. So the bites will appear random, rather than in a path. If this isn't enough, most mosquito bites will be on skin that is not covered by clothing, though every once in a while they can get you through thin clothing.
Are you finding numerous red, itchy welts on your skin that do not have an ulcer or a pustule and seem to follow a path across your skin? You probably have bed bugs. If you need a second opinion, or you need trustworthy bed bug remediation, we can help. Find out if you're in our Illinois service area. Quik-Kill Pest Eliminators provides industry-leading pest control between Chicago and Peoria. Reach out today!
