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tiny red bug looks like an ant?
(6 posts)-
probablyparanoid
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 18offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sat Dec 12 2009 10:51:31
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my boyfriend's apartment has a low-level infestation and I haven't been to his place since they found a bug three weeks ago. Since then I've been getting a few tiny, minorly-itchy bites here and there almost every day. Usually between 1 and 3 a day on my chest, arms or back. Needless to say, I am freaking out, but my mattress is foam and bedframe is metal so where could they even live? I've searched all over and seen no signs of bbs. But this morning I found a tiny red bug crawling on my pillow, probably the size of an "i" in 8pt font. It's sort of long, like a baby ant or something, with a clearly defined, round head and oval thorax. I squished it on a piece of tape and it didn't explode like it's filled with blood or anything. Can bbs ever look like tiny red ants??
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bait
senior member
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 559offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sat Dec 12 2009 13:39:40
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Keep it just in case you want to have it ID'd - even if just to eliminate it as a possible source of bites.
If you've used any kind of bug killer in your room, you may be drawing bugs into your bed since I would assume you didn't put products there. Try to isolate your bed from anything that crawls.
Are your chest, arms and back exposed during sleep? Try to cover them and see if the bites appear only on exposed skin. If I try to cover my whole body, I'll get bites on my face.
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oldtimer
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 1,946offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sat Dec 12 2009 14:29:00
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Maybe a specimen of Scleroderma sp.? It's a little wasp that parasitizes woodworms and looks just like a very little ant.
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probablyparanoid
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 18offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sat Dec 12 2009 19:09:40
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Ok I got a good pic of it! I found it slowly wandering across my pillow and upon its death it was very bright red. It's barely 1 cm long and doesn't really look like pics of bbs I've seen. PLEASE tell me it's some other weirdo thing that decided to pay me a visit....
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oldtimer
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 1,946offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sun Dec 13 2009 4:00:43
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Surely not a BB... maybe it's a Scleroderma (Betilid wasp) or a Solenopsis ant
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probablyparanoid
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 18offline
Posted 3 years ago
Sun Dec 13 2009 12:25:23
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whew, that's good news! I was pretty sure it wasn't, but I'm no entomologist
Thanks for the response!
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