Does your home have bed bugs — or are the invaders another type of common pest? Like bed bugs, pantry pests (including grain beetles and drugstore beetles) are small-sized, reddish-brown household pests. Take a look at what you need to know about each type of bug and how you can eliminate an infestation.

What Are Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are one of the most common types of household pests. According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), 97 percent of pest control contractors report that they needed to treat for bed bugs in the past 12 months.

Do you think you might have bed bugs? Keep in mind, these notorious home invaders are:

• Oval shaped. The unfed bed bug has a small apple-seed-like oval body. After this bug eats, its body changes to a longer, balloon-like shape.
• Brown to red in color. If the bug in your home is tan or black, you don't have bed bugs. These pests are reddish-brown in color. The only exceptions are younger bed bugs, also known as nymphs. These pests are whitish-yellow or almost translucent.
• Found almost anywhere. While you aren't likely to find bed bugs out in the open, you can spot the pests almost anywhere in your home. Some of the top places these bugs hide include mattresses, box springs, and baseboards as well as under outlets, under wallpaper, and on stuffed toys.

Now that you know what a bed bug is, it's time to take the next step in the identification process and learn more about pests that look similar.

What Are Grain Beetles?

This pantry pest is often confused with a bed bug. The adults are brownish in color and have an elongated oval body. While these household invaders look somewhat like bed bugs, a trained professional can easily tell the two apart.

Before you contact the exterminator, however, you will need to gather some basic information on the pests in your home. To identify grain beetles, the pest control contractor may ask:

• Where did you find the pests? Like the name implies, grain beetles enjoy household grains. You're likely to find these pests in the kitchen — inside of packaged materials such as flour, rice, or cereal.
• What do the larvae look like? Again, bed bug nymphs are whitish-yellow. While these young bugs look like smaller versions of the adults, a grain beetle larva looks more like a worm.
• What does the pest look like? According to the University of Maine, adult grain beetles are nearly 1/8-inch long.

After you provide the exterminator with as much information as possible, they'll inspect your home, identify the bugs, and recommend a treatment for the pest.

What Are Drugstore Beetles?

Drugstore beetles are another common pantry pest. These invaders look like grain beetles — and bed bugs. The top similarities and differences between drugstore beetles and bed bugs include:

• The color. Both bed bugs and drugstore beetle adults are brownish in color. But bed bugs have a reddish tint you may not see in a beetle.
• The larvae. Drugstore beetle larvae look more like grain beetle larvae than bed bug nymphs. While all three bugs have whitish-yellow larvae, both beetles' young are worm-like in shape.
• Hiding places. You may find drugstore beetles and bed bugs in some of the same spaces. These include books or papers. But you're more likely to see the drugstore beetle in stored grain products, other pantry items, dried flowers, or tobacco products.

Along with grain and drugstore beetles, cigarette beetles are pests that often mimic bed bugs. An experienced pest control professional can easily identify the bugs in your home and treat the infestation.

Do you need help with a bed bug problem in your home? Contact No Bull Bed Bug Control for more information.