Comments on: Bed bug or flea?

Question: Bed bug or flea?

albrecht — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:52:05 -0800

Is this a bed bug or a flea? Or something else?

Here's another photo from a different angle.

By way of background: I've been experiencing insect bites of some kind off-and-on for the last couple of weeks--maybe an average of one itchy bite every few days, usually overnight. I live in New York, so my first thought was bed bugs, but I've searched meticulously over every inch of my bedroom and haven't seen any of the tell-tale markers (although I know that in itself is not necessarily proof of anything).

Yesterday, though, I found this bug in my bathroom and took those photos. It's similar in size and color to a bed bug, but I've looked at every photo of bed bugs I can find online, and they don't look the same to me. I also found these pictures of fleas, which I think look more like the bug I found (same body shape and legs-to-body ratio).

Last piece of evidence--my bedroom and bathroom have windows that open out to the same ledge (they're adjacent rooms), and I have seen a lot of pigeons out there since I moved in. So that seems to support the flea theory, but I don't know enough to be sure.

I'm trying to remain unbiased and finding it difficult, so please help me out here. I still have the bug and can take some more photos, if that would be useful.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:54:19 -0800

Not a bedbug! Don't know what it is (a beetle of some kind?), but mos def not a bedbug. you can set your mind at ease on that front.

By: Floydd

Floydd — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:57:14 -0800

Looks like a tick to me.

By: Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:58:11 -0800

It's a spider beetle. It's not who's been biting you, though, because as I understand it, they're not parasites.

By: albrecht

albrecht — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:58:27 -0800

Of course, I should mention that I have no reason to believe this is the bug that's been biting me, and this not being a bed bug doesn't preclude the possibility that I do have bed bugs. But if it were some kind of biting flea, at least that would be a competing theory.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:02:07 -0800

Oh my god. OH MY GOD. I don't know what that is, but it looks exactly like this bug that attacked me IN MY EAR when I was 8, causing me to claw the side of my head off until it came rolling out. OF MY EAR.

I have no idea what it is (I'm not sure if I even want to know), but don't let your ears anywhere near it.

For what it's worth, it didn't try to bite me. It just...burrowed. Yeeechhh.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:06:36 -0800

I see these occasionally in my house, I always FREAK OUT thinking they're bedbugs, but they really really aren't. Not fleas either, and not ticks. I think Sarah Jane is right on with the spider beetle diagnosis.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:09:26 -0800

Also the recent Indian Summer weather in NYC led to a final mosquito crop hatching. I've been getting bites myself, because I started leaving my windows open at night after I figured the cold had killed them all off.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:17:36 -0800

Definitely not a bedbug and probably not a flea (the photos you provide make the carapace look quite smooth and shiny, which is not something I have ever seen on a flea). Beyond that, I am at a loss. I know little of spider beetles, but judging from the photos, that seems the best bid so far.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:18:06 -0800

Looks like a tick that just finished gorging.

By: griphus

griphus — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:38:08 -0800

I've been getting bites myself, because I started leaving my windows open at night after I figured the cold had killed them all off.

Oh thank god. I thought it was just me.

By: thsmchnekllsfascists

thsmchnekllsfascists — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:39:23 -0800

Definitely not a flea. I'm excruciatingly familiar with them. My old apt was infested with them. I discovered this after my cat left and they started looking for alternative foodstuffs. I had nightmares for months even after bugbombing everything I owned 3-4 times.

You lucked out.

By: two or three cars parked under the stars

two or three cars parked under the stars — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:06:05 -0800

As someone who has been fighting them in my yard and on my dogs for 15 years - That is absolutely not a tick. For god's sake, it has antennae.

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:29:43 -0800

Not a bedbug or a flea. I have seen both in the terrible flesh, more often than I wish I had. I have no idea what it is, although it certainly looks like a tiny mutant octopus. You can probably rule cephalopods out, though.