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My husband found this small (~4mm long) insect on a pillow while putting my daughter to sleep in our New Jersey (USA) suburb home.

We checked our daughter's and our own mattress as well as the rug, but we found no mark or other bugs. No one has recorded any bites.

We had bedbugs years ago in another home in another city, but have not seen evidence previously in this home. We moved in about 2 months ago at the end of September. We have not travelled recently due to Covid.

We are petrified and will call someone first thing in the morning but need to know

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theforestecologist
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Pris
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  • Unfortunately, yes it looks like you've got a bedbug. See the linked post for more details. Good luck!! – theforestecologist Nov 30 '20 at 04:49
  • Can it be the only one or does it mean my house is infested? We have no other sign and we checked thoroughly as we had an issues at another place years ago – Pris Nov 30 '20 at 05:03
  • you need to update ([edit]) your post with additional information for anyone to provide additional accurate information. Please provide the dimensions of your specimen (and a clearer photo would be ideal), your location (city, state/province, country), more information about the building you found the insect in (is this your home?, how long have you owned/rented it?, are you in a multi-home unit?, are you urban or rural?), and information about recent travel or having new materials come into the home (e.g., suitcases, clothes, bedding, etc.). thanks. – theforestecologist Nov 30 '20 at 05:09
  • Size is important, by the way, because bed bugs must feed prior to every molt. So if your specimen is large enough to be classified as an adult, it would indicate this specific specimen has taken a blood meal multiple times. If you truly have found no evidence of bed bug bites and have found an adult, it suggests it hitched a ride into your home. However, this isn't full-proof, since some people have minimal reaction to bed bug bites so such blood meals may have in fact gone unnoticed. So please update with more info. also, see my linked post for additional useful links for what to do... – theforestecologist Nov 30 '20 at 05:18
  • As is suggested by my comment above, it is possible to have a single individual hitch a ride into your home. However, a single bedbug could also lay up to 100+ eggs per month with initial broods of eggs hatching in 6-10 days. So even if only one came in, more could be present. Your situation is not clear. Again, the more info you provide, the better chance we can provide you detailed and accurate feedback. (If nothing else, be prepared to provide this information and more to an exterminator in the AM). Update the post if you'd like more feedback; otherwise I wish you good luck!! – theforestecologist Nov 30 '20 at 05:27
  • We did not travel (covid ...) But we had contractlr – Pris Nov 30 '20 at 06:15
  • The size (4mm) is similar to a late-stage nymph (~4.5mm), but is likely too small to be an adult (5-9 mm). (see here for size ranges). Only adult females can lay eggs (see here and here for sexing tips). Their small (~1/10") white eggs are laid in clusters in mattresses, furniture, or in cracks in the wall, baseboard, or floorboards. (See here for more egg info). – theforestecologist Dec 01 '20 at 05:39

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