Signs of bed bugs
Where to check, and what you are looking for
If you suspect bed bugs, a careful twenty minutes with a torch tells you far more than any online symptom list. Work outwards from where somebody sleeps.
Illustrative imageStart with the bed, not the bites
Bites alone are not reliable confirmation of bed bugs. People react to bites very differently, some people do not react at all, and several unrelated causes produce similar marks. We will not tell you that you have bed bugs on the basis of a bite pattern, a description or a low-quality photograph.
Physical evidence in the room is what matters: insects, cast skins, eggs or clustered dark spotting in the places bed bugs shelter.
Room by room
A practical check
The bed
- Strip the bed and check every mattress seam and the piping, right into the corners
- Lift the mattress and check the base, especially along the top edges and beneath the fabric
- Check each joint, screw hole and slat of the bed frame
- Check under-bed storage and anything stored beneath the bed
The headboard and wall
- Look behind the headboard, and at its fixings and the wall behind it
- Check any gaps between the headboard and the wall
- Look for spotting on wallpaper, skirting and near sockets close to the bed
Bedside and bedroom furniture
- Empty and check bedside drawers, including the runners and the back of each drawer
- Check the underside and joints of bedside cabinets
- Check curtains where they touch the floor or a piece of furniture near the bed
Seating and other rooms
- Check sofa and armchair seams, under cushions and along the frame beneath the fabric
- Check anywhere somebody regularly sleeps or sits still for long periods
- Check any room a mattress, bedding or bedroom furniture has been moved into
Before you move anything
Do not spread it while you investigate
- Do not move mattresses, bedding or furniture into another room.
- Do not take belongings to another property, a car or a storage unit.
- Do not throw the bed out before the property has been assessed.
- Keep any insect you find — it is the single most useful piece of evidence.
Evidence
What to capture
- The insect itself, in focus and close up, next to something for scale if you can
- Mattress seams and piping, all the way round
- The bed base and each joint of the bed frame
- The headboard and its fixings, and the wall behind it
- Any spotting on bedding, the base or the wall
- Bedside furniture and any under-bed storage
- A wider shot of the room so we can see the layout
Not sure what you are looking at?
Send us what you have found — even a couple of photos — and we will tell you honestly whether it looks like something worth inspecting further, rather than guessing over the phone.