You may have heard stories of homes getting invaded by bed bugs. You know that bed bugs attach themselves to clothing, furniture, and luggage and hitch a ride into your home to lay eggs and take over. Unless you’ve experienced an infestation, you may not have seen one before, leaving you to wonder what bed bug eggs look like.
What Do Bed Bug Eggs Look Like?
To find bed bug eggs, you must look in the crevices around a mattress, sofa, or chair. They like to lay their eggs in dark, out-of-the-way places, like underneath the mattress and the stitching of the furniture. You may find small, elongated oval objects that resemble a grain of rice. Those are the eggs.
The baby bed bug hatches from the front end of the egg, which has a hinged cap that opens. If you find discarded eggs after the young have emerged, you will see that the end is open. A few days after the egg is laid, tiny reddish-brown spots called “eye spots’ form near the cap. However, you may not be able to see them without a microscope.
Size
Bed bug eggs are small enough that you may not be able to see the features, but you can see their size and shape well enough to determine what they are. The eggs are usually about 1 millimeter long and are no thicker than a credit card.
Color
Bed bug eggs are usually white or yellowish. When they are fresh, they will appear to be shiny. That is because they have a glue-like liquid the female bed bug covers them in to keep them secure. Because of this glue, they can be laid against a wall or on the underside of the furniture.
The eggs are translucent before they hatch. Once the young bed bug has emerged, the egg is left behind and becomes transparent.
Texture
If you touch a bed bug egg, you will find it smooth and fragile. When unhatched, they are full of fluid and will pop easily. Many eggs a female lays get destroyed long before they can hatch.
Crushing a bed bug egg is one of the ways many people determine what they are dealing with. They should be full of liquid, so if they are crushed and feel dry, they are usually not bed bug eggs. However, if you find them stuck to the furniture with a glue-like substance, they are probably from a bed bug.
Where Are Bed Bugs Found?
Bed bugs get their name because they can be found in and around a mattress. They are also found in other places with corners and crevices they can work themselves into. The eggs are found in the same place as the rest of the bed bugs.
- Under carpets and rugs as well as in the corner where the carpet meets the wall
- Inside luggage, especially in storage compartments
- Behind and under home appliances
- Around electrical switches and plugs
- Under and underneath mattresses
- Behind pictures
How To Check For Bed Bug Eggs
Bed bugs and their eggs are small and can be difficult to see. However, with a careful inspection, you should be able to find enough evidence to determine if you have an infestation. Use a flashlight and a magnifying glass to look in all the dark corners of your mattress and furniture. If they are there, you will be able to spot them.
Need Help? Call us!
If you find evidence of bed bugs, don’t try to get rid of them on your own. Any remedy you read about online is not guaranteed to get rid of all the bed bugs. And since a female can lay hundreds of eggs in its lifetime, you only need to have a few survivors for the infestation to return.
Calling a professional service is the best way to go if you want to get rid of bed bugs permanently. It can be a tough job, but our pest experts at Romney Pest Control are here to help! We have been providing home pest control services in Texas for over 10 years.
Whether you have a bed bug infestation in a residential or commercial property, our team of experienced and highly-trained professionals is here to help. We can give top-of-the-line treatments with prompt and effective pest control services to Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Call us now to schedule a service.
