BLACK BED BUGS [Visual Guide]

You have discovered black bugs in your bed or in another part of your house. And you wonder if those black bed bugs are really bed bugs. It is very critical to identify the real type of insect you have found in your house before you proceed with the correct procedure to eliminate them.

Some bugs are more harmful, carry diseases, and cause infestation much faster than others. Although bed bugs feed on human blood, they are not known to spread disease.

Black Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are known to live in your mattresses, bedsheets, pillows, and box springs: those are places where they find their food: human blood. But, the black bed bugs you see may not be the actual bed bugs. In this article, we’re hoping to help you distinguish similar bugs from actual bed bugs.

How Bed Bugs Look Like

It is easy to confuse bed bugs with other small brown bugs. What do bed bugs look like? Adult bed bugs are typically dark reddish-brown, oval-shaped, and about the size of an apple seed. 

Bed bugs generally do not have black color in any stage of their life cycle. But they may leave black stains on your mattress, bedsheets, and pillows.

According to whether they have eaten recently, bed bugs can be flat or they can resemble tiny brown balloons. Bed bugs, like fleas and ticks, feed on blood.

Bed Bug Life Cycle

There are many bugs you may confuse with bed bugs, but bed bugs themselves also have a life cycle from egg to nymph to adult. And they look different at each stage of their life cycle. 

So I also provide pictures of bed bugs at each of those life cycle stages so that you can correctly identify them.

Bed Bugs During Feeding

Bed bugs will look not only during the life cycle but also look different during the course of 12-minute feeding. They have a flat body structure when unfed and their bodies turn to a balloon-like swollen structure when fully fed.

Are Bed Bugs Black?

As you will see from the pictures given above, bed bugs are never in pure black color neither during their life cycle nor during their feeding period. But they have dark brown color after being fed with human blood. 

Why Do Bed Bugs Leave Black Spots?

Fecal matter, also known as bed bug droppings, is left behind by bed bugs. Bed bug droppings are one of the most common pieces of evidence of an infestation. 

Bed Bug Fecal Matter looks like black ink stains. To make a quick check, take a wet q-tip and try smearing it on your mattress, bed frame, or box spring. It may be bed bug fecal matter if the dot spreads. Your next best move is to search for live bugs in the area. 

Bed Bug Pictures

I believe the most effective way to help you identify the type of pest you have found is to give you comparison pictures.

You can find below pictures of all the bugs you may mistake for bed bugs. Those are all tiny black bugs in bed you may find. So what are these tiny black bugs in bed?

Black bugs that look like bed bugs (some bugs may be in different colors).

You can also check this detailed guide on 13 BUGS THAT LOOK LIKE BED BUGS.

Bed Bugs vs Bat Bugs

Bed Bugs vs Cockroaches

Bed Bugs vs Booklice

Bed Bugs vs Carpet Beetles

Bed Bugs vs Spider Beetles

Bed Bugs vs Bat Ticks

Bed Bugs vs Fleas

Bed Bugs vs Swallow Bugs

Bed Bugs vs Head Lices

Bed Bugs vs Mites

Bed Bugs vs Termites

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In conclusion, if you closely inspected the bugs you have found in your bed area or at another part of your home (furnituıres, cracks, walls, couches, etc), and you found that bugs are black, they are most probably not bed bugs.

I hope I managed to help, let me know if you have any questions.

All the best, Perry Benani.