Bed bugs and dust mites are both an issue in many households. They both pose a lot of problems as a physical health hazard and also as a cleanliness hazard in this house. Both these insects seem to look the same and give the same problems but they are actually very different from each other. It is important for us to know the differences because the way they attack us humans is rather different and the way for us to get rid of them is also different. Here we are going to provide you with a good comparison guide which will help you out to differentiate between these two bugs.

Understanding bed bugs and dust mites

Dust mites are actually microscopic spiders. They belong to the family of spiders and they resemble spiders in the way they look as well. When seen under the microscope, they look like they have eight legs, all of different sizes and lengths. They also look black under the microscope. However bed bugs are bugs and they are from the parasite family. They are specifically known as nocturnal parasitic bugs. Parasites are creatures that live off other living things for their own survival. They leach on the nutrients of other living things so that they themselves can live on. We will see how this plays out in the form of a bed bug in the next few sections.

What does each creature eat?

Both bed bugs and dust mites thrive directly and indirectly from living things or human beings respectively. First let us look at dust mites. Dust mites eat the dead skin cells that humans and other animals and creatures shed off. They do not leach off human beings or other animals, and they only consume what we let go and what is deemed unwanted by us. That way dust mites are still less harmful because they don’t pose a direct health threat to us. They only affect us by reducing the cleanliness around our living area and they pose problems to us in the form of allergies and related illnesses.

Whereas, bed bugs are parasites and they drink the blood from warm blooded animals. So they pose a direct problem to our health by sucking off our nutrients in the form of blood. And they also would need to leave bites on us to achieve their purpose, and those bites can also give us a lot of other problems starting from itches to various forms of allergies.

Where does each creature live?

Dust mites like to live in dark and moist environments. But they like to have a constant source of food for themselves and they don’t like to migrate too often. For this reason they live in places like mattresses, cushions and basically any form of furniture which is in constant use. This is how they get people moving around and shedding dead skin so that they can feed on them. Bed bugs on the other hand like to hide in small crevices and hidden spots. They live in the cracks near the corners of the bed and basically any hidden spot around your room and your house. Some examples of places where bed bugs live are box springs, cushions, head boards, night stands and curtains.

Can you see these bugs?

You cannot see dust mites, they are microscopic spiders. But you can see bed bugs. Adult bed bugs are about the size of apple seeds and they are red to maroon in color. You can spot them running around your cushions and mattresses easily.

What kind of harm can each bug cause?

Dust mites basically do not bite, that we have explained to you earlier on. But they cause many allergic reactions like Eczema and even Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis. But bed bugs are capable of biting you and as mentioned before their bites are really very itchy. Bed bugs also reproduce very, very quickly and this is an issue because they become really hard to eradicate from your house and your furniture.

How to prevent these bugs from coming into your house?

If you want to prevent dust mites from entering your house then you need to use covers which cannot be penetrated to keep your dead skin cells from your mattresses and pillows. You should also encase your box spring and regularly vacuum your bedding. You need to also regularly wash your linens in hot water every week to make sure they are out of reach from dust mites.

To keep your items out of reach from bed bugs then you need to encase all your cushions, mattresses and box springs with a case that is proven to be safe to protect against bed bugs. This will keep bed bugs from entering your mattresses, escaping your items and also acts as a bite proof material. Make sure you keep your bedding protected at all times and do not remove your encasements.