The difference here is that bed bugs have a mouth made for piercing skin and sucking blood while carpet beetles have a mouth made for chewing on plants and other fibrous material.
Is a carpet beetle a bed bug.
About 1 5 inch long.
You ve noticed that carpet beetles length varies a lot while bed bugs are always the same length.
Also once magnified the varied carpet beetle larvae actually look like tiny furry caterpillars with little spines on them whereas the bed bug larvae look like little worms.
The carpet beetle looks like a bed bug when they are small but as they grow.
An important detail when understanding the difference.
Is it a bed bug cockroach or carpet beetle.
The carpet beetle and bed bug not only leave similar looking bites but there are other similarities.
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.
Carpet beetles look more striped with a white and brown color palette.
Bed bugs will hide in bedding in ribbing around mattresses in the cracks of hardwood floors behind electrical outlets behind wall coverings in.
Bed bugs are in the family cimicidae while carpet beetles are in the family dermestids.
Immature bed bugs are similar to adult about the size of a poppy seed and yellowish white in color.
The biggest difference is in size.
One big difference between bed bugs and carpet beetles that can help you determine which pest you re dealing with is that bed bugs go through an incomplete metamorphosis while carpet beetles go through a complete metamorphosis.
Dark protruding eyes and wing like structures on either side of the head.
Reddish brown flattened and oval in shape.
But the main difference is that the varied carpet beetle does not feed on blood.
The official name for the varied carpet beetle is anthrenus verbasci they are small about 3mm in length and flat in their shape.
Bed bug larvae look like little worms while carpet beetle larvae look like fuzzy bugs with little spines all over them.
Bed bugs do not but look similar to an apple seed with legs.
Bed bugs measure of an inch long.
The main difference is the color.
If you re not sure which you have you can have an exterminator come look for bedbugs.
You will notice the difference in color.
Also carpet beetles feed on fabric type substances and bed bugs feed on blood.
Both the bed bug and the carpet beetle are problematic.
Because carpet beetle larvae are bigger than bed bugs you may be more likely to see the beetles themselves.
Bed bugs and carpet beetles are both very small.
That s because bed bugs always look the same but there are a lot of carpet beetle.
They look much different from bed bugs.