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with Photo - I'm bitten, wife is not, no sign of bedbugs
(9 posts)-
guanoria
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 2
Posted 10 months ago
Fri May 8 2009 9:49:50
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Hi all,
I have been bitten pretty consistently for the last month and a half. I have been living in this apartment for about 9 months without any previous bites.
Anyway, my wife doesn't get bitten but I am getting bitten almost every night at this point. I generally get bit on the feet and knees but I have recently gotten bitten on the forearms a lot and it itches like crazy. I scratch it until it breaks then I get a scab in the middle (also some puss for good measure :).
We have torn the apartment apart looking for bedbugs and we have not seen a single sign of them... until today! I pulled off the sheets and found this little guy under the covers. I trapped him in tape and have taken a photo of him. The only problem is that it doesn't look like a bed bug. Does anyone know what this bug is? It's driving me crazy.
By the way the bug is kind of in an awkward position because I took the picture after I put tape around him.
www.ryanfedyk.com/bug1.jpg
www.ryanfedyk.com/bug2.jpg
www.ryanfedyk.com/bug3.jpgThanks for the help!
Ryan -
It's a spider beetle (Gibbium sp.)
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guanoria
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 2
Posted 10 months ago
Fri May 8 2009 10:32:05
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So I guess this bug is not what has been biting me?
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No, this beetle is a scavenger and doesn't bite.
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lieutenantdan
oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 1,162
Posted 10 months ago
Fri May 8 2009 11:44:58
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Allot of people go through this and I had been one of them. In trying to solve a bed bug delema
the victim starts to search high and low for the insect and in that search we discover a whole new
world. It gets more interesting when you use magnification. -
It doesn't mean you don't have bed bugs. I'm not saying you do, but the presence of spider beetles rules nothing else out.
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Hi,
Just a note to say I have seen two cases of people having a "bite type" reaction where spider beetles were the only pest present.
It may be that they are the cause if you can find no bed bugs or signs of bed bugs being present. They do however appear to be an extremely rare and unusual pest, I have only seen 2 cases in 7 years.
I would suggest making sure there are no more remaining and monitoring your symptoms from there.
David
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spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,614
Posted 10 months ago
Sat May 9 2009 15:37:59
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Many insects have no fear of a human and while you sleep or lounge about are just another obstacle to walk over in their search for food.
Their feet could cause reactions in people with hypersensitivity.
David speaks of hairs triggering reactions and as an example of what a jumping spider foot is made of...
http://whyfiles.org/shorties/152sticky_spider/
Web building spiders have an elaborate claw structure to grip the web where the roaming types, the ones that will wander over you in quest for food, have hairy feet like the jumper.
Jim
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,259
Posted 10 months ago
Sat May 9 2009 19:29:15
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Do you work outside the home?
And if so, have you ruled out the possibility of a bed bug infestation at work?
I ask because bed bugs don't only live in beds. It is true that many people don't react to bed bug bites, so having one person have bites in a home and others not being bitten isn't conclusive proof that there is no bed bug infestation.
However, having one person react to bites while others don't can also be caused if one person is getting bitten in a place other than the home. (Of course, if you and your wife both work outside the home but work in the same office, the chances of that go down dramatically.)
While you're monitoring at home, keep a log of when new bites appear. I say this because we know that in at least some people, there can be a delay of several hours or even days between being bitten and having the bite reaction appear.
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