Are there any other bugs that bite during sleep besides bed bugs?

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Question by Brian W:
Are there any other bugs that bite during sleep besides bed bugs?

I live in an urban city, and I’m getting bitten at night by bugs because I have itchy bites on my legs. I’m pretty sure they aren’t bed bugs because bed bugs are 1/4 inches long, and i don’t think anything like that is in my room. Any ideas? They might be mosquitoes because i live near a lake, but i don’t get how they would get to my legs.

Best answer:

Answer by mister
Fleas

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

ENRIQUE L March 14, 2011 at 1:52 pm

maybe spiders

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ssomeonee March 14, 2011 at 2:41 pm

Of course, it can be bed bugs. You don’t see them, because they are active only when you sleep. Though you should be able to see traces of blood on your sheets, because they do that… Bed bugs like legs more than any other part of your body, I don’t know why. On the other hand, their bites usually are not itchy. Try to sleep on the floor. If you still get those bites, it might be something else, because bed bugs are too stupid to get out of the bed.

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BedBugExpert October 4, 2013 at 10:44 am

@ ssomeonee Bed Bugs will bite even during the day if you are on your bed. Bed bugs will bite any part of your body and the bites can be extremely itchy if you are allergic to their secretion. Sleeping on the floor is not advisable as you can transfer them to your carpet and make the infestation impossible to get rid of unless you MOVE.
@ Brian W. If bed bugs are the problem there will be evidence on your mattress seams, blood stains on the sheets and if you have a headboard check the back for little black spots. Bed bugs will bite any part of your body. If only your legs are getting bites then you may have fleas which will bite only the legs. Bed bugs will go anywhere that is upholstered (bed, carpet, sofa, etc.). They also love laying eggs in wood.
I got them from either second-hand furniture or the apartment building was infected without our knowledge. The infestation was so bad by the time we figured out what it was that the bugs were everywhere (bed, dressers, carpet, couch, fabric chairs, etc.). We tried every product on the market and nothing worked. Exterminators gave us estimates that cost more than the price of moving so we got rid of everything except our clothing (which went straight to a laundromat and washed in the hottest water we could get). For your sake I hope it isn’t bed bugs because they are impossible to get rid of without costing you a fortune. Exterminators are expensive and will not do a one-time spray. They will spray monthly until you cannot afford it anymore or there is no more evidence anywhere. Good Luck!

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Rachel March 14, 2011 at 2:42 pm

There are other bugs that bites such as the kissing bug from the Family Reduviidae. They are blood feeders. They are usually nocturnal and reactions are due to salivary proteins. The most common kissing bugs in the United States are in the genus Triatoma with the less common Paratriatoma found in the southwest. They usually bites in the human face or other soft parts. Another is the cone-nosed bug. prey specifically upon the blood of (mostly warm-blooded) vertebrates which includes us. Symptoms of the bite range from mild itching, severe joint pain, nausea, chills and dizziness to anaphylactic shock.They could also be mosquitoes because some usually bites at night or even the cockroaches. Cockroaches do bite human specially if asleep.

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Frank March 14, 2011 at 3:22 pm

They could be bedbugs. You don’t see them because they hide in the cracks and crevices, and the nymphs are a lot smaller than the adults, with the first instar being only 1 mm in length. However, bedbugs don’t just bite legs, they would bite any exposed skin. But if the harborage is near where your legs are, it is possible that they only target your legs.

Frank
http://waronbedbugs.blogspot.com

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Pam June 15, 2014 at 6:33 pm

What if you are being bit everyday when you sit in a chair, couch, or wake up in the morning from your bed, but see no signs of bedbugs. Inspector has checked bed and chair that you sit and sleep in. Now anywhere I sit, I get bites. Could there be something else biting me besides bedbugs. I use preventive things such as fabric softener sheets, sprays and powders for bedbugs. I am getting bit anytime I sit down and I do not know what to do.

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Simone July 5, 2018 at 11:29 pm

It could be scabies you will have to go to your doctor to get some cream and wash and bag clouthes plus clean house for a week change bedding every day its easy to get better this then bed bugs believe me

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BEA BEAMER September 2, 2016 at 12:38 pm

Do you have animals? what you are describing sounds like a flea infestation

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