What attracts bed bugs to a person?

How do bed bugs find people?

• Carbon dioxide. Every breath releases carbon dioxide, and bed bugs follow it toward a sleeping or resting person.
• Body heat. Up close, warmth helps them find exposed skin.
• Skin odors. Natural chemicals on our skin are another signal they use.

That’s why bed bugs gather in beds, couches and recliners, places where a person stays still for hours.

Are some people more attractive to bed bugs?

Everyone gives off carbon dioxide, heat and odor, so anyone can be bitten. What differs is the reaction. Some people get itchy welts and others show no marks at all, so the person with the bites isn’t always the only one being fed on.

Do bed bugs mean my home is dirty?

No. Bed bugs feed on blood, not crumbs or dirt. They show up in spotless homes, hotels, hospitals and offices. Clutter doesn’t attract them, but it gives them more places to hide and makes treatment harder.

How do bed bugs get into a home?

They hitchhike. Common routes are luggage and bags, secondhand furniture, visitors, shared walls in apartments, cars, and people themselves. A bed bug can ride on clothing or shoes. See can bed bugs travel on your clothes and shoes?

When do bed bugs bite?

Usually at night while you sleep, but a hungry bed bug will come out during the day if someone is resting nearby.

What do bed bugs look like at each stage?

Adults are about the size of an apple seed, flat, oval and reddish-brown. Eggs are about 1 mm and pearly white. In between are five nymph stages that get bigger and darker after each blood meal. See the bed bug life cycle illustration.

Bed bug attraction FAQs