Is this a bedbug?

April 19, 2022 12:09 PM

Is this a bedbug, or something else?

Found 3 in the last few days, on my skin. I am in Massachusetts. They are very small, maybe 4-5 mm wide. The coloring seems different than the pics I've seen of bed bugs, and no other signs of them (no bites, etc.)

https://ibb.co/L5SZmW2
https://ibb.co/f8dQMYr

posted by eggman to Science & Nature (3 answers total)

Best answer: Not a bedbug. 100% carpet beetle. You can tell it's a beetle by the elytra (solid shells covering the flight wings) and wings, bedbugs have neither.

Also if you squeeze it, it will crunch. Bedbugs will squish wetly and softly (and often let out red blood).
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:11 PM on April 19, 2022 [12 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, SaltySalticid--carpet beetle is what I had suspected but did not want to influence neutral Mefites . . . phew!
posted by eggman at 12:16 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Congratulations, eggman!
posted by heyho at 1:36 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]