Two adult bed bugs in a petri dish (courtesy of Kim Jung)

Adult bed bugs, in general, are:

• about the size of an apple seed (5-7 mm or 3/16 – 1/4 inch long);
• long and brown, with a flat, oval-shaped body (if not fed recently);
• balloon-like, reddish-brown, and more elongated (if fed recently);
• a “true bug” (characteristics of true bugs include a beak with three segments; antenna that have four parts; wings that are not used for flying; and short, golden-colored hairs); and
• smelly, with a “musty-sweetish” odor produced through glands on the lower side of the body.

Young bed bugs (also called nymphs), in general, are:

• smaller, translucent or whitish-yellow in color; and
• if not recently fed, can be nearly invisible to the naked eye because of coloring and size.

Bed bug eggs, in general, are:

• tiny, the size of a pinhead;
• pearl-white in color; and
• marked by an eye spot if more than five days old.

Pest Control Bed Bugs Bedbugs Manhattan NY