What Do Bed Bug Shell Casings Look Like

Empty egg shells are certainly symptoms of a growing multi generational bed bug population.

What do bed bug shell casings look like.

They are small only about 1 16 inch long. Bedbugs shed their exoskeletons as they grow leaving behind a dry hollow casing which looks like the bedbug but without a body inside. The number of shells you spot may give you a rough idea of the extent of the infestation you are dealing with. In addition carpet beetle larvae will shed their skins as they grow.

The sheds can easily be found in places like carpet radios and telephones. What do bed bug shells look like. You may be wondering what a bed bug shell or casing looks like and for the most part they look just like a bed bug but without the body on the inside. Bed bug shells skins and casings.

Bed bug shells and casings are the same but you may hear them described as one or another. Throughout the bed bug life cycle they molt or shed their skin in five phases from infancy to adulthood. Since bed bugs are an insect they have a skeleton or exoskeleton on the outside of their body and like all insects a bed bug must shed its skin to grow. Shed bed bug skin looks almost identical to a live bed bug.

Many shells are intact or undamaged and it appears as though the nymph magically disappeared from its exoskeleton. Other likely places are inside books wood framing and box springs among others. They are very small about 1 mm in length but visible to the naked eye a magnifying glass helps. Look around your bed near the mattress seam or behind the headboard.

The casing will be reddish or brown in color will be hollow and the size will vary based on the age of the bed bug. However if you manage to catch sight of one you will notice that they do not look like bed bugs at all. A bed bug exoskeleton that has been shed is often known as a shell or casing. They survive by feeding on your blood and can go for many months without food once fully fed.

It is not uncommon to see a perfectly shaped shell complete with legs antennae proboscis and other identifiable body parts. The difference between a skin and an actual bug is that the exoskeleton will appear empty and translucent and obviously cannot move. Newer infestations have fewer shed skins because adults don t molt. What bed bug skins look like.

They look like an apple seed and can grow in size to 7mm with a flat or oval shape depending on the last time they fed. The castoff bed bug shells look like empty clear exoskeletons. The larger the size the older the bed bug.