http://bedbugger.com/forum/ Bed bug support forums en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:23:45 +0000 http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52305 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:33:09 +0000 arlington-81 52305@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>PCO said he's pretty sure the little white guys are not BB's, but will have their entomologist confirm from the samples. He did find a carpet beetle larva, and explained how to identify it (the fuzz/hairs on the back). It wasn't a full inspection, since I'd had one two weeks ago - just a "check up" on the samples I'd caught on the glue boards and while cleaning. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52304 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:09:56 +0000 arlington-81 52304@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Well now I think they might be booklice, after further careful insepect. PCO coming agian this morning to check it out.</p> <p>The bites....they will generally look (and feel - i.e., itch) like an insect bite of some kind, no? The set of bites I got that set this all off certainly did - I could tell they were bites. But now I'm being hypervigilant about my skin, I notice little pimples that crop up in some places. That I've had I think for a while - they don't itch, last for varying lengths of time, sometimes recur (in the exact same spots); I always assume its just my skin breaking out or reacting to something...now I am worried what if they are bites and I just don't know it? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52278 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:40:17 +0000 stricken 52278@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I was being treated for "hives" for two months by two doctors who thought it was an allergic/immune reaction and prescribed antihistamines. Then I found bedbugs on my mattress. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52196 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:21:28 +0000 arlington-81 52196@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Found another specimen that's easier to see....looks an awful lot like a BB nymph. How unusual would it be for me to have caught a bunch of nymphs on my sticky traps, but none in the other stages?</p> <p>Since I have isolated my bed (a couple days after I got my first bites), I don't think I've gotten any more bites. Unless I stopped reacting to them. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52071 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:25:03 +0000 DougSummersMS 52071@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Renee has an interesting article on a test to identify fecal traces on New York vs Bed Bugs.<br /> <a href="http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/06/22/phenolphthalin-test-as-inexpensive-surveillance-tool/#comments" rel="nofollow">http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/06/22/phenolphthalin-test-as-inexpensive-surveillance-tool/#comments</a></p> <p>My understanding is that a physical exam can identify the bite source as an arthropod, but cannot specify that it was created by a bed bug based on the appearance of the wound.</p> <p>However, I believe that more &#38; more medical professionals are becoming aware of the resurgence of bed bugs ... Clinical experienced professionals are starting to recognize suspicious patterns of bite marks and consider bed bugs as a possible source.... </p> <p>I was recently able to rule out bed bugs as a source for a physician that was treating a patient covered with angry skin eruptions that certainly resembled bed bug bites.... The medical investigation can now be focused on alternative explanations for this patient's severe skin condition. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52051 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:23:54 +0000 buggyinsocal 52051@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Lots of physicians, who obviously aren't trained as entomologists, do not know nearly as much about bug bites as I, at least, would expect.</p> <p>What I can tell you is this: we get all kind of people here who have had docs (PAs, MDs, DOs, NPs, what have you) tell them that specific bites are or are not bed bugs, and upon thorough inspection of the home, either those posters or their PCOs have ultimately discovered that the "diagnosis" of bed bugs or not based just on what the bites looked like were wrong.</p> <p>That's not to bad mouth medical professionals. It is to say that the training that most primary care docs go through 1) was long enough ago that bed bugs hadn't reached epic proportions in the US yet and so they weren't trained in med school or residency in most cases on this issue at all and 2)isn't focused on this issue enough, so right now there's a lot of misinformation from docs. They can give you stuff to make the bites itch less, and then can rule in or out scabies, but we've never had a report here of a doc who has found a conclusive way to determine that a particular bite 100% came from (or didn't come from) a bed bug. I've had three bites in a row, just randomly, from mosquitos, yellow flies, fleas, and any number of other pests. </p> <p>It would be nice if there were a way to tell through docs, but we don't have one yet.</p> <p>Hang on to the samples. Get them checked by an entomologist who can make a conclusive ID.</p> <p>Look at the links that Doug provided because they'll help.</p> <p>And, for what it's worth, most of what I know now about identifying bed bugs came from having a PCO take the time to show me specific samples and play Q and A with items and say "No, the egg would be lighter in color than that" or "Yeah, that's the right size for a bed bug egg." In some instances, and this is one of them, very little beats hands on training. Asking the right questions of an experienced PCO will often get you that hands on training.</p> <p>So, sadly, none of us can put your mind completely at ease, but we can tell you that just because there are three bites in a row does not mean that you absolutely, positively have bed bugs and couldn't possibly have been anything else.</p> <p>Hang in there. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52050 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:20:55 +0000 arlington-81 52050@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Thanks for your response, Doug. They didn't use a canine, but mentioned that they have one if necessary. I don't know if they charge for a K9 inspection. </p> <p>The main thing that gives me hope is no more bites so far that look like that first batch, for almost a month. They can go without food but I would assume they'll eat if food is available! My bed is isolated, and I purchased encasements, but I have not yet encased my mattress - I wanted to try to verify first.</p> <p>The tricky thing is, summers in this area are buggy, and if I spend any time outside, I will probably get other insect bites. . . And I'm now hypervigilant now about every pimple, razor burn, heat rash, etc. That's life I guess. Though people who have bed bugs and get bit seem to know they're being repeatedly bitten (if they react at all). </p> <p>And at some point, I have to let it go, and get a new roommate and move on with my life. I guess if I get two professional inspections, no bugs and no further bites, that's just what I'll have to do... The anxiety is the worst, of course :( </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52047 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:12:14 +0000 DougSummersMS 52047@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>If you can provide a good digital macro shot &#38; post it... we can try to assist you.</p> <p>Otherwise, your best bet is to keep your specimens in a zip lock bag until your PCO can provide an accurate ID under magnification.</p> <p>Did Conner's pest control use a K9 to perform the inspection?</p> <p>I suspect that you will find that it is not a nymph... but you can go to the links page &#38; download the Cornell IPM guide...It has some great pictures of all stages...male &#38; female...fed &#38; unfed... that you can enlarge &#38; use for comparison.... Doggett's Code of Practice has some great shots &#38; Lou Sorkin has a photobucket account that has numerous shots of bed bugs in all stages... </p> <p>It is important to examine a specimen in the early stages very carefully to avoid making a misdentification....</p> <p> Keep looking for alternative sources for the bites marks... Avoid being tunnel visioned.... There is a good section in the Cornell IPM guide on pages 8-10 listing some other potential sources of bite marks to rule out.</p> <p><a href="http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/bb_guidelines/" rel="nofollow">http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/bb_guidelines/</a> </p> <p>Good Luck.... I hope it turns out to be fleas </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-to-identify-nymphs-still-dont-know-if-i-have-them#post-52044 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:32:09 +0000 arlington-81 52044@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Please folks. I need some advice, help, anything. I'll start at the beginning.</p> <p>So over the course of 24hrs from June 2-3 appx 12-15 bites of some kind appeared, all but one on one leg (one on the other ankle). My doctor (well, physician's assistant) told me it was bedbugs, based on one pattern of three. Recommended only encasements and cleaning. The bites were small (like photos of flea bites), smaller than mosquito bites.</p> <p>I freaked. I live in a 2BR w/a flatmate, who had told me she's moving in about a month, so I need to find a new roomie, but can't move forward on that until I get some kind of resolution to the question of possible BB.</p> <p>I inspected my room myself, a bit. I called Connor's Pest control based on recommendations here; he found no indications and even said he didn't think I have them. I isolated my bed w/bowls of baby oil on the legs of my bed, and, after the guy from Connor's suggested putting out some sticky traps, I put the sticky traps under the (styrofoam) bowls.</p> <p>I went on a camping trip for a week, on which I got some bites which I had to dismiss (of course). A couple days later I got one huge welt-like bite on my ankle, which over time turned cherry red then healed. Since it did not bear the slightest resemblance to the earlier bites - and there was only one - I decided it probably wasn't a BB bite, perhaps a spider bite (I had found several spiders in my room while cleaning). I have had no further bites that resembled those initial bites.</p> <p>I found today while cleaning a carapace of some kind. I suspect it is too small to be a bb (it would have to be a nymph - it is perhaps 1-1.5 mm long, but it is brown, not white like a nymph, and under a magnifying glass appears to have hairlike extrusions around the edges of the torso (which was separated from the head when I found it). I suspect some form of carpet beetle, which I have found in my room while cleaning. I still called back Connor and will have them come back on Wed to check again. </p> <p>But...then I checked my glue traps. I'd caught a few gnatlike flies. But I also noticed tiny (no more than 1mm) whitish specks around the edges, so I did my best to examine them with my magnifying glass. Most I couldn't really tell. One looked like a larval fly, of some sort, similar to one of the adult flies I'd found. Most were inconclusive. One has gotten me very worried that it's a BB 1st-stage larva. Magnified, it looks similar to the photos, but as far as I can tell does not have the distinctive black curved vein on the back, AND it also appears to have a head that is defined from the body - i.e., it appears to have a "neck," which most of the photos of BB larva seem to lack. But I just can't tell.</p> <p>Obviously I will show the inspector everything. But I'm also hoping I can get some advice here. Some people here have said that "nothing bites three in a row except BB", but my roommate (who runs everyday but hasn't gotten any "suspicious" bites to her knowledge) said that occaisionally she's gotten bites like that in the summer, as has my mother (who lives in another state). I had gone strawberry picking about 3 days prior to that first crop of bites showing up; I'd hoped that maybe I'd gotten bit by something then - maybe fleas, if they were in the grass. I also need advice on identifying the first stage larva. Should I be able to identify them w/the naked eye? I assume there must be lots of bugs that are whitish and small in the larval stage - what sets BBs apart?</p> <p>Thanks!</p> <p>I am in Arlington VA. </p>