Ep.23 Are bedbugs hard to spot?

Surely you’re curious or at least amused by the question we’re answering today in our “Myth or Fact” series: are bedbugs hard to spot? It’s an interesting tidbit of information we found on the internet, and if you want to know the answer, we invite you to follow Mr. Alexandru Vladimirescu, PhD in biology and head of the medical entomology laboratory at the Cantacuzino Institute.

What are you curious about? Write us in the comments and we’ll ask the specialist for you!

Interview transcript

Today, together with our specialist, we are debating a myth that you forwarded to us on our INFO DDD Facebook page. The myth goes like this: bedbugs are very hard to spot as they are very small, only 5mm at most, and they also like to hide. But what we can see if we suspect bedbugs are microscopic black spots, evidence of their feces. Mr. Vladimirescu, is this true or just a myth?

It’s…in my opinion, it’s a myth. Why is that? Because they’re somewhat larger, at least the adult forms. They’re visible to the naked eye. Indeed, for the intermediate stages, they are small in size, and then perhaps they escape our sight. And, indeed, what you say about the droppings that they leave by feeding on blood, yes, it is a reality, you can see them at some point, possibly with a magnifying glass, and it shows that they have been there. Indeed, they have this hiding behavior and are hard to notice unless we catch them in the act.

Can you tell us why they prefer the mattress to the bed?

Well, that’s where we sleep and of course we’re…we’re the blood supply, I mean the food supply. They practically sit at the table.