Bed bugs or fleas are common pests that are found in homes. With the recent rise of bed bug infestations, it’s important to understand the difference between these two pests. While their bites may appear similar, there are ways identify different bites. Learn to tell them apart so you can apply the appropriate pest control solutions.
What are the differences between bed bugs and fleas?
- Cats and dogs bring fleas into the home, whereas bed bugs are usually brought in by people.
- Bed bugs don’t fly or jump but fleas can jump up to 13 inches. This helps them transfer between hosts and “hitch a ride” with humans to reach new hosts.
- Fleas lay 150 to 300 eggs each week. Bed bugs can lay 200 eggs in their lifetime (about 10 months to one year).
- Adult fleas can only survive for a few weeks while flea pupae may endure for several months without food. Adult bed bugs can live for over a year between feedings.
- Fleas tend to favor blood meals from warm-blooded animals like cats and dogs. Bed bugs can feed on your entire family.
- Bed bugs are not known to transmit any human diseases. While fleas have the capability of spreading illnesses such as typhus and plague.
Read also: Hitchhiking Pests: How To Avoid Them
How do bed bug bites vs flea bites look like?
- Fleas or bed bugs can cause blood marks to appear on your body. If you have children and pets, check for signs of bites as well.
- Bed bug bites appear as raised, flat red marks due to an allergic reaction to the anesthetic and anticoagulants in an infected bug’s saliva. Bed bug bites can typically be found in a straight row or line, with three or four bites, although this isn’t always the case.
- Flea bites appear to look like a group of tiny mosquito bites. They are usually randomly distributed and often have a distinct dark red center from where a single puncture-bite of the flea’s exceptionally special mouth pierces the skin.
- Bed bug bites can take from up to a day to over a week to show. They will gradually itch more too, since the anesthetic from their saliva begins to wear off.
- A flea bite turns into a painfully swollen bump within one hour after an attack. It starts to itch uncontrollably and incessantly, and soon afterward an open sore or blister may develop.
- Bed bugs feed off people’s blood every 7 and 10 days. Meanwhile adult female fleas undergo repeated blood meals, day and night.
Whether you wind up with fleas or bedbugs, there’s only one response to them: eliminate them now. Immediately call for a bed bug control or flea treatment at the first hint of an infestation.
Read also: Flea Bites: What You Need To Know
What are the treatments for bed bugs or fleas?
Fleas and bed bugs live near people or inside their homes. Eliminating either pest presents some challenges. Cleaning the bed and cleansing pets can substantially decrease populations. But without efficient pest control measures, they will continue to be an issue. Contact the expert in NEA pest control in Singapore for help in evaluating and removing the pests from your house.
Conclusion
It is possible that you or a loved one has been bitten by a bed bug or flea and does not know it. If you suspect that there might be bed bugs or fleas in your home, give us a call. Our pest control and disinfection service experts will help evaluate the severity of the infestation and recommend the best plan to solve your issue!
