Common House Bugs That Bite

No matter how clean you keep your house, you will still have the occasional bug or two inside. Most bugs are mere annoyances, while others — such as dust mites or silverfish — may cause allergies in people or damage to your home. Other common household bugs make their presence known by biting people.

Bedbugs

Bedbugs are approximately the size of an apple seed and have a reddish-brown color. Their bites often resemble other bug bites, so examine your bite marks closely. If you notice itchy red marks with darker red spots in the middle and the bite marks occur in a line or cluster, a bedbug was the cause. Some people show no reaction to the bites, while others experience extreme itching, blisters or even hives. You may inadvertently bring bedbugs into your home when you buy used furniture or stay in an infested hotel, dorm or hospital. Lack of cleanliness doesn’t attract bedbugs.

Fleas

Differences Between Bedbugs & Chiggers

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Your pet may bring fleas into your home 2. These parasites feed off both animals and people, causing tiny, red dots that itch. While a full-grown flea pretty much lives on its host — usually your cat or dog — and lays its eggs in the animal’s fur, the eggs will drop into the carpeting, furniture cushions and bedding. The eggs hatch into larvae that live in carpet fibers, beneath furniture and along walls. To transform into adults, the larvae enter cocoons that are resistant to insecticides, making fleas infestations difficult to treat. In order to rid your home of fleas, you not only must treat the home, but also the pet and possibly your yard.

Flies

While the typical housefly merely annoys you without biting, horseflies and deerflies will bite you. If you live in the country near livestock or near water, you may have horseflies or deerflies get in your home. Their larvae grow in the dirt around freshwater lakes, rivers and ponds, and they like to feast on large animals such as cows and horses. The also bite humans. Horseflies grow to be larger and darker in color than the deerflies, but both possess large, prominent eyes. When they bite you, they leave behind red, raised bumps. The flesh around the bite sometimes swells, as well.

Mosquitoes

Poisonous Wood Spiders

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Mosquitoes not only invade your home and bite you, they can also transmit diseases such as malaria, yellow fever and the West Nile virus. After sucking your blood, they leave small red bumps on you that itch. Mosquito larvae thrive in standing water such as lakes, rivers and even blocked rain gutters and small puddles. Though mosquitoes prefer warm, tropical climates to cool, arid climates, they can swarm around any body of water.