What Do Bed Bug Shell Casings Look Like

Throughout the bed bug life cycle they molt or shed their skin in five phases from infancy to adulthood.

What do bed bug shell casings look like.

They look like dried out casings of live bed bug eggs see close up of bed bug eggs below but are less shiny and may be somewhat flattened. Look around your bed near the mattress seam or behind the headboard. Many shells are intact or undamaged and it appears as though the nymph magically disappeared from its exoskeleton. Shed bed bug skin looks almost identical to a live bed bug.

The castoff bed bug shells look like empty clear exoskeletons. 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. Bed bug shells skins and casings. Other likely places are inside books wood framing and box springs among others.

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. It is not uncommon to see a perfectly shaped shell complete with legs antennae proboscis and other identifiable body parts. 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. They survive by feeding on your blood and can go for many months without food once fully fed.

The larger the size the older the bed bug. Bed bug shells and casings are the same but you may hear them described as one or another. However if you manage to catch sight of one you will notice that they do not look like bed bugs at all. The number of shells you spot may give you a rough idea of the extent of the infestation you are dealing with.

Empty egg shells are certainly symptoms of a growing multi generational bed bug population. These discarded casings look much like the shells of bed bug larvae. The shedding looks a lot like an actual bed bug except that it is immobile and translucent in color. The sheds can easily be found in places like carpet radios and telephones.

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. A bed bug exoskeleton that has been shed is often known as a shell or casing. Bedbugs shed their exoskeletons as they grow leaving behind a dry hollow casing which looks like the bedbug but without a body inside. Newer infestations have fewer shed skins because adults don t molt.

They are small only about 1 16 inch long. The difference between a skin and an actual bug is that the exoskeleton will appear empty and translucent and obviously cannot move. They are very small about 1 mm in length but visible to the naked eye a magnifying glass helps.