What color are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are normally brown, but they turn red after feeding on blood. The small, flat oval insects can be seen with the human eye and are similar in size to an apple seed.

Bed bugs have a beak that allows them to penetrate skin. Their bite is not painful and generally goes unnoticed until a rash develops. The only food source for bed bugs is human or animal blood. They feed until they are fully engorged and then fall off the skin. A female bed bug can lay hundreds of eggs during her lifetime. An egg can fully mature in as little as a month.