How Big Are Bed Bugs & Do They Pose a Big Threat?

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Bed bugs are small insects that can infest your home and cause a lot of trouble, both for you and others in your household.

Bed bug infestations can pose a risk to your health, so it’s important that you identify them and take the right steps to prevent the infestation from spreading.

How Big Are Bed Bugs?

A bed bug is a rather small insect, about the size of an apple seed. An adult specimen is no more than 5-7 mm in size. The egg of a bed bug is only 1 mm in size, while the bed bug nymph goes through five stages until it grows up to 4.5 mm.

Therefore, they are quite small and can be hard to detect in your home. Many confuse them with other types of insects, such as fleas or cockroaches.

6 Little-Known Facts About Bed Bugs

A bed bug infestation can be a serious matter. We’ll go down a list of useful facts about bed bugs that can help you detect them more easily and protect your home from this pest.

1. The odds of encountering bed bugs are roughly 20%.

(Pest World)

We’d say that the odds are reasonably high, as one out of five Americans reported that they had bed bugs in their home or that they know someone who did, based on reports from all of the US states.

2. Bed bugs can live for roughly 10 months.

(Terminix)

Compared to other insects, bed bugs can live a long time. The bed bug’s life cycle has seven stages, and it takes them about 45 days to reach adult size.

An adult bed bug lives for 10 months, but if the conditions are suitable, it can live up to a full year. That’s why it’s important to use encasement mattress covers for an extended period if you notice bed bugs in your home. Also, quality bamboo sheets are highly recommendable since the plant is naturally resilient to this creepy crawlie.

3. Bed bugs thrive in temperatures from 55 °F to 75 °F.

(Bed Bug Lawyer)

The ideal temperature for bed bugs is between 55 °F and 75 °F, but they can deal with extreme conditions if they have to. They are able to enter a hibernation-like state called diapause that helps them cope with extreme cold.

If you want to get rid of them, including the bed bug nymphs and the bed bugs’ eggs, it’s important to put the things that they had been in contact with into a plastic bag and expose it to temperatures below 0 °F for longer than 80 hours. They are far less resilient to heat, and steam can easily kill them.

4. Bed bugs spread alarmingly quickly, with one bug laying up to 250 eggs.

(Forbes)

You found a couple of bed bugs in your home and thought – no big deal. But a single female can lay up to 250 eggs in her lifetime. They can lay up to five eggs a day. That may not seem like much compared to other insects, but they can still spread extremely quickly.

5. Bed bug bites are under 12 mm in size.

(Bed Bug Lawyer)

Over 60% of bed bug bites are going to happen on the upper body rather than your lower body. The actual size of a bed bug bite is less than 12 mm. This is a useful fact to keep in mind when trying to determine if the bite was from a bed bug or some other insect. Watch out for marks on your head, neck, and arms.

There are up to 100 deaths annually caused by an insect sting in the US, but you shouldn’t worry about bed bug bites that much, as they aren’t that damaging to your health.

6. Bed bugs can move at speeds of up to four feet per minute.

(Dominion Pest Control)

People tend to think that bed bugs stay in location because they don’t fly. In fact, they can usually cross 100 feet in a single hour. With a speed like this, don’t expect them to stay put, but rather take every precaution so they don’t spread all over the house.

Conclusion

Bed bugs are an insect that can cause you more nuisance than actual harm. Although they don’t actually transmit disease, they can cause discomfort and can prove hard to eradicate.

The size of the bed bugs is one determining factor that makes them difficult to eradicate. They are small and are most often confused with fleas.

Since they’re nocturnal animals as well, it can take some time before you realize you have them in your home. So, it’s important that you take measures to stop them from spreading as soon as you detect them.

FAQ

What do bed bugs look like?

Bed bugs are small oval-shaped insects. They are flat and wingless, which makes them hard to spot and easy to misidentify and confuse with other species of insects.

What color are bed bugs?

Adult bed bugs are of a reddish-brown color that becomes more intense red when it is fed. The bed bug larvae, also called nymphs, are translucent white-yellow, while the eggs are pearl-white in color.

What do bed bug bites look like?

The bites are usually small, flat spots of red color, although they can sometimes be inflamed, depending on the individual’s natural reaction to the bite. The bites are usually grouped together and can form a sort of zig-zag pattern. An important thing to note is that the majority of the bites happen on the upper part of the body.

What do bed bug eggs look like?

The eggs are small and around 0.5 mm in diameter, which is the size of a pinhead. Hence, they won’t be easy to spot. And how big are bed bugs when they reach their full size? Adult bed bugs are roughly the size of an apple seed, and are around 5-7 mm in size.