How can I tell if I had bed bugs?

You can tell if you had bed bugs by looking for several signs on your body, bed, and room, though bites alone are not definitive because they resemble mosquito and flea bites. Common signs include itchy, red welts on skin that are often in a line or zigzag pattern on exposed areas like arms, shoulders, neck, and legs that appear overnight, though some people do not react to bites. More reliable signs are physical evidence in your bed, such as small rust-colored or reddish stains on sheets and pillowcases from crushed bugs, tiny dark spots that look like ink dots from bed bug feces on mattress seams, sheets, and walls near bed, and finding live bugs themselves, which are small, flat, oval, reddish-brown insects about apple seed size, often hiding in mattress seams, box spring cracks, headboard crevices, and behind baseboards during day. You may also find translucent shed skins and tiny white eggs in crevices. A sweet, musty odor in heavily infested rooms is another sign. To confirm, inspect your mattress seams with flashlight at night, check box spring edges, headboard, and nearby furniture cracks, and use interceptor traps under bed legs to catch bugs. If you find live bugs, fecal spots, and shed skins together, you likely had bed bugs and should contact professional pest control for inspection.