Carpet beetle is one the most common look a like.
Carpet beetles bugs that look like bed bugs.
However the carpet beetle is the smallest of the two and averages 1 8th of an inch in length while the bed bug is about 1 4th of an inch long.
Bed bugs and carpet beetles are both very small.
The telltale signs of carpet beetles are their shed skins.
The carpet beetle and bed bug not only leave similar looking bites but there are other similarities.
If you notice bed bug like red spots and discover that you have carpet beetles but not bed bugs then they may be the cause.
Bed bugs leave signs like red or dark stains on sheets.
Also knowing you have a bug problem can cause you to feel like there are things on you even when there aren t.
Because of the similarities many professionals have ended up treating the wrong bugs for bed bugs.
Differences between bed bugs and carpet beetles.
However if you manage to catch sight of one you will notice that they do not look like bed bugs at all.
In addition carpet beetle larvae will shed their skins as they grow.
There are a number of bugs that are mistaken for bed bugs.
Bed bug larvae look like little worms while carpet beetle larvae look like fuzzy bugs with little spines all over them.
Carpet beetles look very very different from bed bugs when they are larger.
Because carpet beetle larvae are bigger than bed bugs you may be more likely to.
While carpet beetles don t bite or feed on humans their larvae can irritate the skin.
It is easy in this case to assume that they experienced bed bugs bites.