Quick answer: In pictures, adult bed bugs look like flat, oval, reddish-brown apple seeds about 5 to 7 mm (3/16 to 1/4 inch) long. Bugs that have just fed look swollen, longer and bright red. Young bed bugs look like smaller, nearly clear or pale yellow copies of the adults, and eggs are pearly white specks about 1 mm long.1,2,3
Key Takeaways
- Compare shape first: flat and oval like an apple seed, with six legs, two antennae and no working wings.1,4
- Size depends on the stage: from a 1 mm egg to a 5 to 7 mm adult. The CDC says the whole range is roughly the size of Lincoln's head on a penny.1,5
- Color depends on the last meal: bright red right after feeding and darker as the blood is digested. Unfed adults are brown to reddish-brown, and unfed young are pale.1,3
- The signs often show up first: dark spots of droppings, rusty stains and empty shed skins along mattress seams.6,7
- A photo can't prove it. Bat bugs and swallow bugs look almost the same, so have a suspect bug identified.8,9
Found a bug and want to see whether it matches? This gallery shows bed bugs at every life stage, at actual size and magnified, before and after they feed, along with their eggs and the signs they leave behind. Each photo has a caption explaining what to look for.
In this gallery
How Big Are Bed Bugs? Actual-Size Pictures
Bed bugs are small but visible without a microscope. Here's how big each stage gets:1,10
| Stage | Length | About the size of |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 mm (about 1/25 in) | A pinhead1 |
| Nymphs (five stages) | About 1.5 to 4.5 mm (1/16 to 3/16 in) | A pinhead up to a sesame seed1,11 |
| Adult | 5 to 7 mm (3/16 to 1/4 in) | An apple seed1,9 |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the range as "roughly the size of Lincoln's head on a penny."5 For more on telling a bed bug by size and shape, see what bed bugs look like.
Pictures of Adult Bed Bugs
Up close, an adult bed bug has a flat, oval body, short golden hairs, six legs, two antennae and a beak folded under its head.1,4,12 Its wings are only small pads, so it can't fly.13,14
Bed Bugs Before and After Feeding
A bed bug that has just fed looks very different from a hungry one. It swells, gets longer and turns bright red. Over the next couple of days the bug darkens and flattens again as it digests the blood, so a recently fed bug can look dark brown or almost black.1,3,15,12,11
Pictures of Baby Bed Bugs (Nymphs)
Young bed bugs, called nymphs, look like small, pale adults. Before they feed they're nearly clear or whitish-yellow and very hard to see. After a meal, the red blood shows through their bodies.1,3 They molt five times and need a blood meal before each molt.16,2
Pictures of Bed Bug Eggs
Bed bug eggs are about 1 mm long, pearly white and shaped like a tiny grain of rice.1,11 Eggs more than five days old show a red eye spot.1,17 They're glued into seams and cracks near where people sleep.2,7
See our full guide to bed bug eggs for more pictures and what kills them.
Bed Bug Life Cycle Pictures
A bed bug goes from egg through five nymph stages to adult. In a warm home (70 to 80°F) with regular blood meals, this can take as little as a month to five weeks. Cooler rooms or fewer meals slow it down.2,17
Learn more about the bed bug life cycle.
Male vs. Female Bed Bugs
The easiest difference to see is the tip of the abdomen. Females have a rounded abdomen; males have a pointed tip.13,16,14
Think you found a bed bug?
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Pictures of Bed Bug Signs
You'll often see what bed bugs leave behind before you see a bug. Look for tiny dark spots of droppings that bleed into fabric like a marker dot, rusty stains from crushed bugs, eggs and empty shed skins, mostly along mattress seams, the box spring and the bed frame.6,7 About 85% of bed bugs are found in or near the bed.7
See our guide to the signs of bed bugs for how to check, and our bed bug bites guide for pictures of bites on skin.
Pictures of Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs
Bat bugs and swallow bugs are close relatives that look almost identical; telling them apart takes magnification. Carpet beetles, young cockroaches and ticks are also sometimes mistaken for bed bugs.8,2
See our guide to bugs that look like bed bugs for side-by-side comparisons.
Think You Found a Bed Bug?
- Save the bug. Drop it into a small vial or pill bottle of rubbing alcohol, or seal it in a zip-top bag and freeze it overnight.9,18
- Get it identified by your county Cooperative Extension office, a university insect lab or a licensed pest control company.11,9,18,2
- Check the bed for droppings, eggs and shed skins, and put interceptor cups under the bed legs.6,2
- If it's confirmed, follow our guide on how to get rid of bed bugs.
What the Research Shows
- Most hide close to where you sleep. About 85% of bed bugs in a home are found in or near the bed.7
- One female can be enough. Genetic studies suggest an infestation can start from a single mated female.19,20
- There's a look-alike species, too. The tropical bed bug, which looks almost the same, was found in Florida in 2015, its first Florida record in more than 60 years, and has also been confirmed in Hawaii.21,22,23
Bed Bug Pictures: Frequently Asked Questions
What does a bed bug look like in real life?
Like a small, flat, reddish-brown apple seed with six legs. After feeding it looks swollen, longer and redder.1,3,4
How big is a bed bug compared to a penny?
Adults are about 5 to 7 mm (3/16 to 1/4 inch) long, about the size of an apple seed.1 The CDC says bed bugs at all life stages range from 1 to 7 mm, "roughly the size of Lincoln's head on a penny."5
What do baby bed bugs look like?
Tiny, pale or nearly clear versions of adults, about 1.5 to 4.5 mm long. They turn bright red after feeding.1,3
Can you see bed bugs with the naked eye?
Yes. Adults, nymphs and eggs can all be seen without a microscope, though eggs and unfed young nymphs are hard to spot.10,1,2
Can I identify a bed bug from a photo?
Often, but not for certain. Bat bugs and swallow bugs look almost identical, so have the actual bug checked by an expert.8,9
References
- Bed Bugs: Appearance and Life Cycle. U.S. EPA. www.epa.gov
- Potter MF. Bed Bugs (ENTFACT-636). University of Kentucky Entomology, rev. 2026. entomology.mgcafe.uky.edu
- Miller DM. How to Identify a Bed Bug Infestation. Virginia Tech, via VDACS (undated). www.vdacs.virginia.gov
- Ridge GE. Bed Bugs: How to Deal with Them. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 2012. portal.ct.gov
- About Bed Bugs. CDC, reviewed 2024. www.cdc.gov
- How to Find Bed Bugs. U.S. EPA. www.epa.gov
- Sutherland AM, Choe DH, Lewis VR. Pest Notes: Bed Bugs (Pub. 7454). UC IPM, 2013. ipm.ucanr.edu
- Bed bug look-alikes. Colorado State University Agricultural Biology, modified March 2024. agsci.colostate.edu
- Bed Bug Identification. Purdue University Extension Entomology. www.extension.entm.purdue.edu
- Bed Bug Myths. U.S. EPA (archived Jan 19, 2025 snapshot). 19january2025snapshot.epa.gov
- Identifying Bed Bugs. NYS IPM Program, Cornell University. cals.cornell.edu
- Bed Bugs. Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District (CA). ocvector.specialdistrict.org
- Doggett SL, Dwyer DE, Peñas PF, Russell RC. Bed bugs: clinical relevance and control options. Clin Microbiol Rev 25(1):164–192, 2012. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Baker P. Bed bugs (slides, 2012 Vector Control Conference). University of Arizona, via Arizona Dept. of Health Services, 2012. azdhs.gov
- Miller DM, Rogers J. How to Identify a Bed Bug Infestation (ENTO-4P). Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2012. pubs.ext.vt.edu
- Biology and Identification. University of Tennessee bed bug program (bedbugs.tennessee.edu). bedbugs.tennessee.edu
- Miller DM, Polanco A, Rogers J. Bed Bugs Biology and Behavior (ENTO-8P). Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2019, reviewed 2024. pubs.ext.vt.edu
- How to send a sample or photo to the IDL. Cornell Insect Diagnostic Laboratory. cals.cornell.edu
- Bed bug infestations are a family affair (Schal, Vargo, Booth genetics research). NC State University News, Dec 2011. news.ncsu.edu
- Saenz VL, Booth W, Schal C, Vargo EL. Genetic analysis of bed bug populations reveals small propagule size within individual infestations but high genetic diversity across infestations from the eastern United States. J Med Entomol 49(4):865–875, 2012. bioone.org
- Campbell BE, Koehler PG, Buss LJ, Baldwin RW. Recent documentation of the tropical bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) in Florida since the common bed bug resurgence. Florida Entomologist 99(3), 2016. dx.doi.org
- Tropical Bed Bugs Found in Florida after 60-Year Absence. Entomology Today (Entomological Society of America), Oct 2016. entomologytoday.org
- New hard-to-kill bed bug species is invading the US, experts say. UC Riverside College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Feb 2024. cnas.ucr.edu
