Is this a bedbug?
December 16, 2013 3:51 PM   Subscribe

Recently moved into a pre-furnished room in NYC and noticed a lone dead bug on the mattress a few days ago. I hope it's not a bedbug, but I can't tell for sure. Someone look at this picture and say it isn't so! Also, that it isn't another species that will be invasive or cause an infestation.

Here's the only picture I have. I didn't think to put anything next to it for size comparison purposes, and it's not a great photo. It doesn't really look like the pictures of bedbugs I've seen online, nor does it match the "apple seed" description. But I'm not sure.

I haven't noticed any bites, though I've not slept there since I saw the bug, and I didn't see any stains or spots on the mattress or around the mattress (which sits on a wooden pallet-type frame). But I didn't inspect super closely because I was trying not to freak out, and I haven't been back since I saw it.

Additional questions: Do I need to pre-emptively treat clothing and fiber-containing belongings as if I had bedbugs, or is it fine to wait until I have a positive ID? And if this isn't a bedbug, is it another kind of bug that I need to call pest control about or otherwise "handle"?
posted by taupe to Home & Garden (7 answers total)
 
Lucky you, That's not a bedbug!
posted by palegirl at 3:56 PM on December 16, 2013


Definitely not a bedbug!
posted by schroedingersgirl at 4:17 PM on December 16, 2013


Not a bedbug but I can't tell from the picture if it's a silverfish or something else invasive. Is the place musty?
posted by dchrssyr at 4:34 PM on December 16, 2013


Not a silverfish. Not an earwig. I think it's a flying bug -- the picture is upside down, and the wings are on the bottom. Looks sort of like a lacewing, but it's the wrong color.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:49 PM on December 16, 2013


Bug; not of "bed" variety. Bed bugs are TINY you can't see the legs; they look like sesame seeds.

But, uh, vacuum that mattress. Including the piping around the edges.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:56 PM on December 16, 2013


Response by poster: dchrssyr: I'd say it's somewhat musty. There's a certain smell (but not awful), and it's an old building, so I'm guessing it hasn't had much work done in a long time, at least not in the unit I'm in. The unit is pretty clean and has OK ventilation (windows are kept open a crack almost all day).

St. Peepsburg: I definitely will.

Thanks for the comments, all - helpful and very reassuring!
posted by taupe at 6:30 PM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


My first thought for "bug but not bedbug" was carpet beetle; the picture doesn't really look right but I can't see it well enough to know for sure.
posted by nat at 8:35 AM on December 17, 2013


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