Do I Have Bed Bugs Or Mites?
WouterIf you’ve been waking up with welts on your body, you may be wondering if you have bed bugs or mites. These tiny insects live off the blood of humans and animals, and are almost as common in pristine homes as they are in filthy ones. These bugs bite you when you’re sleeping, piercing your skin to feed on your blood. They feed for three to ten minutes, then crawl away unnoticed.
The bites of bedbugs and mites generally heal within a week or two, but if you develop an allergy, you may need more aggressive treatment. If you have an allergic reaction to the bites of bedbugs, you should consult an allergist, who will conduct allergy tests. An allergy test will determine which mites are causing your symptoms.
While bedbugs are larger and more visible than dust mites, the two species have some important differences. A bedbug is approximately the size of an apple seed, and a dust mite is much smaller and less noticeable. They live under the skin of human beings and reproduce quickly.
If you think you may have bed bugs, check the inside of your mattress to find the source of infestation. Bedbugs lay eggs in secluded areas. They can deposit one or two eggs a day. Typically, bedbugs will lay hundreds of eggs during their lifetime. The eggs are white and sticky, and hatch in about a week when they’re kept at room temperature. The newly emerged bedbug nymphs are about the size of a pinhead, and they shed their skin five times before reaching maturity.
