You’ve got a bed bug, but don’t worry… you’re going to live. Just kidding, you have a freaking bed bug, and it sounds like you’ve had it for a while. And that’s fine (gross, but fine), I’m hoping you won’t need this article one day. But until then, let’s talk about how they compare to the other bite you might get in your sleep: the tick. Bedbugs are tiny insects barely the size of a freckle. But they can be a huge nightmare for people who are infested with these pests. Here at the Bug Guide we have been busy comparing bedbugs to other insects on our large insect comparison chart. Lucky for you we have prepared this small bedbug vs bug infographic to help you compare bed bugs to other common tiny creatures. Is it a bug or is it a spider? Could it be a tick? Just what arachnid is it? Use the chart below to determine if your bug is in fact a bug.

Bed Bug Compared To Tick

Appearance

Bed bugs are flat and brownish, while ticks are round and reddish-brown.

Bed bugs have six legs, while ticks only have four.

Bed bugs have a darker exoskeleton than ticks (i.e., you can see through it), while tick’s exoskeleton is lighter in color than bed bug’s—you need to look closely to find skin underneath the exoskeleton so you can tell if it’s a tick or not!

Both types of insects are very small; however, they’re not quite as small as each other: bed bugs usually measure around 1/16th inch long at full size while ticks range from 1/8th inch up to just over ½ an inch wide according to their species’ size differences within one species group (for example, American dog tick vs blacklegged deer tick).

Location

Bed bugs feed on blood and live in warm places like mattresses and bedding. They can be found in the cracks of your mattress, box spring, headboard, and other soft furnishings in your home.

Ticks are arachnids that feed on animals and humans. They can be found outdoors in grassy areas with plenty of leaf litter or brush piles, but they don’t want to be left out of your nice comfy bed! If you’re hiking in an area with lots of woods or tall grasses where ticks tend to hang out, it’s possible one will get into your clothing and onto your skin while you’re sleeping at night.

Bites

Both bed bugs and ticks can cause skin reactions, with itchy welts being the most common symptom. While this reaction is usually not dangerous, it can be painful and uncomfortable.

Ticks also have a tendency to cause allergic reactions in some people. Like bed bug bites, these reactions will vary depending on the individual’s immune system and past exposure to ticks.

While they’re similar, you can tell the bugs apart.

Bed bugs, like ticks and fleas, are blood-sucking ectoparasites. That means they suck blood from their hosts. However, bed bugs are different from ticks and fleas in several ways.

Bed bugs look like flat ticks or apple seeds when they’re not engorged with blood—the engorged bed bug looks like an apple seed with legs. Bed bug bites appear as small itchy bumps on the skin.

Ticks have eight legs while fleas have six legs; both have one pair of antennae on their heads (but only adult male ticks have a second set of antennae). Flea bites look like little red dots while tick bites may be red around the edges or just very itchy bumps that don’t appear until days after the tick has left its host’s body (when it has already injected its saliva into your skin).