Classic question - Is this a bed bug? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Classic question - Is this a bed bug?

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jezevci

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 4:08:48
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Over the past couple of weeks we've occasionally had some bites, for a while I thought they were mosquito bites but then I found some in places it wouldn't really make sense for mosquitos to bite and after it's cooled off and we have the windows closed at night and finally the dread thought hit me.

Today I found this bug under the covers, so drowsily engorged that it didn't even seem alive for a long time - certainly didn't make any move to get away. Only once I'd had it affixed to a piece of scotch tape for a bit did it start wiggling its little legs. Anyhow, all the signs are there that it could be the dreaded bug, yet checking it against pics online left me unconvinced. To be honest to me it looks more like a full tick, particularly in the way the legs are mostly out front.

The problem is my camera is absolutely unable to take close-up pictures, but you do get a good idea of what we're looking at here, so if any of you bug experts can clear it up for me, I'd be thankful.

pic 1
pic 2
loubugs

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 4:50:29
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Looks like an engorged tick, maybe a nymph rather than an adult.
jezevci

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 5:10:51
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Glad somebody else thinks so. One of the main attributes that makes it look tick-like to me, aside from the way the legs are out front, is the shininess of its engorged rear. Of course it's hard for me to wrap my head around the chances of finding a tick in our bed after getting what seem to be bb bites, you know what I mean? But I suppose even if it were a tick we couldn't rule out the coincidence.
loubugs

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 5:45:23
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The tick wouldn't just crawl in, but you must have been somewhere to have had it crawl onto you. It would have been attached for hours to days, not like bed bugs. Any pets?
jezevci

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 6:50:02
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No pets, but ticks are rather common here, it's not inconceivable that I picked one up in a park or somewhere. In order to have gotten that big and dropped off I would've had to have it for over a day, so it's odd I wouldn't have noticed, but not impossible. It just seems crazy to be scouring the bed for one engorged blood-sucking bug and come across a completely different one instead.
thebedbugresource

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 10:02:57
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This is definitely a tick.

Sean
Winston O. Buggy

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 3 2010 17:59:41
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Classic question - Is this a bed bug? Classic answer, no.