Bite marks, itching, or blood stains on sheets are not definitive evidence of bed bugs. (There’s nothing special about a bedbug bite, and some people don’t respond to it or bleed.) And you don’t necessarily have them just because you’ve seen a strange bug (even on your bed!) Or spent a night in a sketchy motel , or because your cousin’s friend’s neighbor had bed bugs. Instead, look for the characteristic brown-black, point-like fecal stains (digested blood) on your bedding, mattress, box spring, bed frame, or skirting board nearby. If your mattress isn’t already in a sleeve, look carefully at the seams and crevices in the mattress – especially the folds of a pillowcase. Bed bugs also leave cast skins that look like empty shells or fragments of bed bugs. These instructions (PDF) contain helpful photos of signs of infestation.
