Tiny Bugs in Your Bed That Aren't Bed Bugs

If the tiny bugs in your bed are fuzzy and leave shed skins, they're almost certainly carpet beetle larvae; if they jump and bite, they're fleas; if they look exactly like bed bugs but your house has bats, they may be bat bugs. Pale, dust-sized crawlers are usually booklice, and tiny jumping specks that don't bite are springtails, both signs of humidity rather than an infestation that feeds on you.

Bed bugs get all the attention, but in pest ID forums, the bug someone finds in bed turns out to be something else a large share of the time. Here's how to tell them apart with a flashlight, a piece of clear tape and a few minutes.

Quick ID: what the bug looks like and what it means

Catch one before you do anything else. Press clear packing tape on it and stick the tape to white paper, or drop it into a small bag or a jar with rubbing alcohol. A sharp phone photo through a magnifier is enough for most IDs. Our bed bug look-alikes page has side-by-side pictures.

Carpet beetle larvae: the most common "it's not bed bugs" answer

Small, fuzzy, slow-moving larvae in the bed, along baseboards or under the mattress are the number one non-bed-bug find. They are larvae of carpet beetles, and UC IPM describes their food as animal-based materials: wool, silk, feathers, fur, leather, and the hair, lint and skin flakes that collect in dust. A wool blanket, a down pillow or comforter, felt pads, or the dust bunnies under the bed are all they need.

How to recognize them:

• Larvae are bristly. Varied carpet beetle larvae have alternating light and dark brown stripes, are wider at the back, and raise a plume of hairs when disturbed. Black carpet beetle larvae are shinier, golden to dark brown, and carrot-shaped with a long tail tuft.
• They leave shed skins. UC IPM notes that their cast skins and salt-grain-sized droppings make it obvious where they've been feeding. Finding hollow, hairy "shells" is a giveaway.
• Adults are on the windowsill. The adults are tiny, round, mottled beetles that look like miniature ladybugs. They feed on pollen outdoors and fly toward light, so you see them on window sills, drapes and panes in spring and early summer.

They don't bite, but some people get itchy red bumps from contact with the larvae's hairs, which is why they're so often mistaken for bed bugs.

What works: find the source and remove it. Vacuum thoroughly under and behind the bed, along baseboards, inside the bed frame or storage drawers, and in the closet; wash bedding hot; launder or dry clean wool and down items; store woolens sealed. UC IPM advises not to spray clothing or bedding with insecticide. See carpet beetle larvae and how to get rid of carpet beetles.

Fleas: jumping bugs and bites around the ankles

Fleas in bed almost always mean a pet sleeps there, or did. Adult cat fleas (the flea on most US dogs and cats) live on the animal, but UC IPM explains that females lay 20 to 50 eggs a day, and those eggs fall off into bedding and carpets, where larvae develop on flea droppings. Larvae need a protected spot with at least 75% relative humidity, which is why pet beds, carpet under furniture and the bed itself are prime spots.

Signs: small, dark, fast bugs that jump far; bites in clusters on ankles and lower legs; and "flea dirt," black specks that turn reddish when you put them on a wet paper towel. No pet? Look for wildlife: an opossum under the house, a feral cat, or a previous tenant's pet.

Treat the pet with a product your vet recommends, wash bedding hot, and vacuum daily for at least two weeks, because pupae keep hatching after treatment. See fleas in bed and bed bug vs flea bites.

Bat bugs and swallow bugs: bed bug twins from the attic

This is the one that really does look like a bed bug. Iowa State Extension says bat bugs are so closely related to bed bugs that microscopic examination is needed to confidently tell them apart. Colorado State University gives the key feature: on a bat bug, the fringe hairs just behind the head are longer than the width of the eye; on a bed bug they're shorter. Through a magnifier, bat bugs look noticeably hairy.

Context is often the bigger clue:

• Bats in the house. Bat bugs live where bats roost: attics, wall voids, chimneys, under shingles. Colorado State says they're usually found on the upper floor near the roost, and usually one at a time rather than in clusters.
• They bite, but can't establish on you. Bat bugs and the closely related swallow bugs (from cliff swallow nests under eaves) can bite people, but CSU notes they can't reproduce on human blood. Iowa State adds that they haven't been found to transmit disease.
• They show up after the bats leave. When bats are excluded or migrate, starving bat bugs wander into living areas looking for a meal, and CSU says they can survive many months, in some conditions over a year, without feeding.

The fix is the animal. Spraying for bat bugs without dealing with the bats gives only temporary relief. Bats are protected and can carry rabies, so exclusion is a job for a wildlife professional, usually done in late summer or fall, or in early spring with one-way doors, never while young bats are in the roost. See bats.

Mites: bird mites, rodent mites, dust mites

"Mites" covers very different things:

• Bird mites are pinhead-sized and fast, and they do bite. Iowa State Extension says they wander indoors from sparrow, starling or pigeon nests on or in the walls, especially in late spring when young birds leave the nest. They can't live long on people. Remove the abandoned nest first, then treat cracks near it.
• Rodent mites behave the same way after mice or rats die or are trapped out. If you've just dealt with a mouse problem and new bites start, think rodent mites.
• Dust mites are invisible, don't bite and aren't what you're seeing crawl. They matter for allergies, not bites.
• Chiggers bite outdoors in grass and brush and don't infest beds; itchy welts at the sock line and waistband after yard work are chiggers, not something in the mattress.

Springtails and booklice: humidity bugs

Two harmless bugs show up in beds in damp rooms, basement bedrooms, and new houses that are still drying out:

• Springtails are 1 to 2 mm, white, gray or dark, and jump when touched using a tail-like spring. Penn State Extension says they feed on mold and mildew and enter homes during droughts or heavy rains. A dehumidifier and removing mold are the fix. See springtails.
• Booklice (psocids) are soft, pale and tiny, and crawl rather than jump. Iowa State Extension says they feed on microscopic mold, can't bite or sting, and are a sign of high humidity. They often appear on mattresses, bed frames and books in damp rooms.

Neither one feeds on you or your bedding. If you see them, check humidity: above about 60% indoors, both thrive. Bring it down and they disappear in a few weeks.

What people who dealt with it say

Bug-ID threads on bed bug and pest control forums show some consistent patterns:

• The scariest finds are often carpet beetles. People convinced they had bed bugs regularly turn out to have carpet beetle larvae, often after finding shed skins in an under-bed storage compartment or along baseboards. Pros in those threads keep saying the same thing: find the source (a wool rug, down bedding, pet hair under the stove, dust in vents) and the problem ends; if a company can't find the source, they're just spraying baseboards.
• Bat bug IDs come from hair and bats. In identification threads, experienced posters judge by the fringe hairs and the shape of the area behind the head, and they often link the Colorado State look-alike guide. People told they had bat bugs usually also report seeing bats around the house, and the plan that worked was bat exclusion plus treatment of cracks near the roost.
• But some "bat bugs" are bed bugs. Hopeful posters asking "any chance this is a bat bug?" are frequently told the hairs aren't long enough. Don't rely on hope: get a pro or an extension office to confirm, because the treatments are completely different.
• Bites with no bugs. A recurring and painful theme is people with itching and marks but nothing on traps or in inspections. Commenters, including pros, advise sticky traps and interceptors for weeks to collect evidence, and seeing a doctor if nothing turns up, since other causes of itching are common.
• Ticks in bed. A surprising number of "is this a bed bug?" photos are engorged ticks brought in by a pet or from outdoors.

How to check your bed in 10 minutes

1. Strip the bed. Check mattress seams, piping, tags, the box spring and the bed frame joints with a flashlight for dark spots, shed skins, eggs and live bugs.
2. Look under the bed and along the baseboards for dust, hair and hairy shed skins (carpet beetles).
3. Check pet bedding and run a wet white paper towel over it for flea dirt.
4. Put sticky traps along the baseboards and interceptor cups under the bed legs. Check them daily for a week or two.
5. Think about animals: bats in the attic, birds nesting in vents or eaves, a recent rodent problem.
6. Check humidity with a cheap hygrometer. Over 60% invites springtails and booklice.
7. Catch a specimen and compare it with our bed bug pictures and signs of bed bugs, or send a photo to your county extension office.