Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Detection / Identification of bed bugs
very small bugs, can't hardly see them, itch like crazy
(5 posts)-
BrendaBoo42
newbite
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 3offline
Posted 11 months ago
Sat Jun 2 2012 23:07:15
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I had no idea what was biting me, but then two weeks ago felt a bite while in my bed and found it--and I think they are midges? At any rate, I bought a bed bug mattress protector and now if I am 6 inches away from it, I can see the eggs? larvae? on the white protector. They are black, but may appear orange too (I think they look like that when they are moving from larvae to hatching) and they are as small as the period in the text here. I take scotch tape, pick them up, and stick them on paper. They bite, and itch like crazy--I have bites that are a month old and still itch, and will probalby scar. If one bite itches, they all itch, and it's horrible. I have found some that have wings, and fly, but the larvae themselves don't appear to move at all. When I caught the first one and put the tape on the paper, blood came out to about the size of a pencil eraser, and that's when I started looking in detail at my bed. I had been bitten for over two months before I was able to figure it out. I have Raided my mattress, and am getting ready tomorrow to bug bomb my bedroom, as I have not been able to make a dent in this. It takes me about 20 minutes at night to tape all the eggs/larvae to a paper, and often I go back to an area that I have already done and there are more--it's like they just appear out of nowhere or through the fabric of the bed bug protector. I am still getting about the same amount on my tape every night as I did in the beginning. This is the only place they seem to be in the house...and no one else has bites. Mostly the bites were on my legs and arms, but lately I had one on my neck, and last night got bit on my eyelid. I wash my bedding every day in bleach and very hot water, and it seems to be free of them, but they keep coming from my mattress. I can only think they are some type of midge because when they do have wings they are about 1/8" big....still very, very small. I have not been able in all of my searching been able to find a way to get rid of them....so will post to let you all know how the bug bombing goes tomorrow. I cannot afford a new mattress, and am really at my wits end with the itching---it is simply unbearable. My boyfriend has spent the night and has not gotten bitten at all, so maybe it's just something in me that they like?
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,698offline
Posted 11 months ago
Sun Jun 3 2012 1:40:35
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Whatever this is, it isn't bed bugs.
If you can get some of the pests on tape, an entomologist may be able to examine them under a microscope.
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BrendaBoo42
newbite
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 3offline
Posted 11 months ago
Tue Jun 5 2012 23:13:17
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Update...I bug bombed on Sunday and thought that really helped with the population. I didn't have many eggs/larvae and no fliers to pick up on my tape Sunday night and Monday morning. They have started to come back a little more now last night and this morning, but numbers are still reduced. However, I have 3 new bites. I think with my bedding if I don't let it soak for 15-30 minutes in the washer with bleach, it doesn't kill everything that may have gotten into the blanket. Still battling....just will keep posting because I think this is what a lot of people are writing about in the forum....and yes, with them on tape, I could get them to someone to look at. I have eggs that are probably less than 1/64 of an inch (size of the periods here in the text), larvae that are a little bigger (the tip of a pencil lead maybe), orangy things that appear to be larvae moving into the winged bug stage that are not much bigger but are a different color, and then the fliers, which are black with wings and maybe all of the height of an "o" here in the type. They do match what I found online at [nonworking link] and then pub E-250.pdf has on file....but there was no info there on how to eradicate....and I need to eradicate....
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,698offline
Posted 11 months ago
Tue Jun 5 2012 23:25:19
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Here's a link to that page (PdF):
http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-250.pdf -
your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,698offline
Posted 11 months ago
Tue Jun 5 2012 23:29:19
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Most people here have bed bugs, actually, or think they do.
Some have fleas, occasionally bird mites or other mites. The odd bat bug or swallow bug. Mosquitos on occasion, carpet beetles (which don't bite but cause reactions), and then lots of times it isn't even an insect at all.
If you have biting midges, I am not sure what treatments are recommended.
There may be some experts who can recommend something. And professional treatment should be available if they are breeding in your home.
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