Bugs are everywhere. So, finding different bugs on the couch shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is because couch, cushion, and mattress seams are just one of their many homes.
However, many people often think that these couch bugs are just bed bugs. But in this article, we’ll tell you about some other bugs that could be the culprits. So, let’s begin, shall we?
What Are the Bugs That Live on Couch?
No matter how pest-free your house is, bugs will always pay you a visit. But not all of them are keen on hiding inside your furniture, sofa, cushion, couch, and bed frame.
Some of them just want to steal the food from your cabinet. A few prefer to hide in attics. And others like water-rich areas such as your bathrooms.
However, bugs that live inside infested furniture often include:
1. Carpet Beetles
Carpet beetles, like their name, have a thing for carpets.
But at other times, they also infest anything made of silk, fur, leather, feather, wool, and hides. This is because materials like these contain a substance known as Keratin.
According to biologists, this keratin is like a protein fiber often found in animals. It’s in the human skin as well and it helps protect us from skin damage and pathogens.
For carpet beetles, however, their young can digest keratin. So, it serves as food for them and a place to call home.
Often, your mattress, leather couch, sofa, cushion, and other furniture are made of materials that contain keratin. They are more prone to a carpet beetle infestation.
Couch, cushion, and sofa fabrics made of cotton, rayon, polyester, and other synthetic materials are less prone to infestation.
Although sometimes, carpet beetles may attack these synthetic materials as well. This can happen when they are mixed with wool or heavily soaked with food stains, baby oils, and other carpet beetle attractants.
What Do Carpet Beetles Look Like?
Carpet beetles are oval-shaped and they are most probably the little black couch bugs often seen in our houses.
But besides being black, adult carpet beetles have mottled markings on their body.
These patterns can come in different brands of white, orange, yellow, or even brown. And they often differentiate adult carpet beetles from bed bugs.
But the thing is, adult carpet beetles prefer to eat pollen rather than animal keratin. So, they are not the major couch bugs.
Instead, we have their larvae to blame. These carpet beetle larvae are brown. They are quite slow and their bodies are covered with bristles.
What Are the Signs of Carpet Beetle Infestation on Your Couch?
- Irregular spots and threadbare holes on couch fabrics
Carpet beetle larvae move as they feed.
To spot an infestation, you can notice the feeding spots on your couch fabrics.
- Adult or Larvae Carpet Beetles
Once you notice a few carpet beetles, dead or alive, on your couch or anywhere near, you probably have a carpet beetle infestation.
Sometimes, the bristles on the larvae fall off. You can also see them on carpet and furniture fabrics.
Besides those two markers, we would have mentioned the eggs. But carpet beetles are too small.
So, you may not see them with your naked eyes. And then again, carpet beetles rarely bite; if at all.
2. Dust Mites.
Dust mites feed on dead skin, body dirt, and sweat. They need it to survive.
Luckily for them, we humans are one of their richest food sources. Because in one hour, you, as a man, shed between 0.03 – 0.09g of dead skin.
Often, you shed these molts on your carpet, pillow, mattress, blanket, sofa, couch, and other upholstered furniture. For that reason, dust mites patiently wait in these places to get a bite of your molts.
What Do Dust Mites Look Like?
Dust mites are so small that all you see with your naked eyes are just white dust specks.
But if you raise a magnifying lens over the specs, you will see their body outline as a bug. And they also have bristles.
According to zoologists, dust mites appear like a hybrid between bedbugs and lice, only smaller and whiter.
So, dust mites are considered the most common white bugs on the couch. And unlike bedbugs, they don’t suck blood.
Instead, they snack on dry, and dead skin cells called Dander.
How to Know You Have a Dust Mite Infestation
- White dust specs on the couch.
As said earlier, dust mites are tiny. But they live in clusters visible to the naked eyes.
So, once you notice unexplainable white specs on your upholstered furniture, mattress seams, and couches, dust mites might be the probable couch bugs.
- Allergic Reactions.
The bristles on dust mites induce allergic responses on our skins.
So, symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, itchiness near the eyes, blue skin around the eyes, and itchy skin are good signs of dust mites.
Although to be sure, you need to locate the white dust specs we mentioned earlier. This is because other substances and pests can cause those allergies as well.
3. Clover Mites.
Clover mites are the tiny red bugs often found on couches. Let’s briefly talk about them with the following oft-cited points.
What Do Clover Mites Look Like?
Like other common mites, clover mites are oval-shaped. But their forelegs are so long that people often mistake them for antennae.
But besides their legs, clover mites are small, not bigger than a pinhead. In fact, to see their body outline, you may need a good magnifying glass.
This small size allows the clover mites to squeeze through tiny crevices, hide inside wall spaces, and lay within upholstered furniture.
Why Do Clover Mites Infest Your Sofa, Cushion, and Box Spring?
Besides the hiding places we mentioned earlier, clover mites also often gather around pools and playgrounds with tall grasses.
But during extreme hot or cold conditions, they venture inside your house to seek shelter away from the harsh weather.
In most cases, they prefer to stay by the window side, walls, and other areas that receive sunlight. If your mattress, leather couch, sofa, cushion, and others are kept near the window, clover mites may drop on them.
Sometimes, your pets and small kids may bring in the clover mites. This happens when clover mites attach to their clothes after a visit to an infested playground.
Luckily for you, clover mites can’t survive for long indoors. This is because they need their plant food materials to survive. Indoors, they can’t get those.
How Do You Know You Have Clover Mites?
There are many markers that flag a clover mite infestation. But bites and allergies aren’t among them.
This is because clover mites don’t bite. Then again, they are not known to cause any diseases. So, they are mildly not dangerous.
However, clover mites are notorious; they spurt out their intestines when squished. Of course, this leaves dirty stains on your fabric, carpet, couch, box spring, bed frame, and other places.
Now, this stain leaves a characteristic red color. It is a great way to tell if you have clover mites or not.
4. Bed bugs
Of course, we can’t end this list without mentioning the notorious vampires – the bed bugs.
What Does a Bed Bug Look Like?
Bedbugs are tiny. But you can still see them with your naked eyes.
Up close, bed bugs are oval-shaped, brown, and wingless. So, they can’t fly to escape from danger.
But what they lack in flight, they make up for in leg speed and stealth. So, they are quite fast and they hide inside luggage, couches, mattress seams, box springs, and sofas.
Inside these places, bedbugs lay their eggs and hatch into young nymphs. The bed bug eggs appear like dust specs.
Whereas, their nymphs are more like adults; only without vital reproductive organs.
Why Do Bedbugs Infest Your Couch, Sofa, Cushion, and Other Furniture?
Bed bugs bite and suck blood, we all know that.
What some people don’t know is that bedbugs rarely feed on other animals besides humans.
This is because, in most cases, bedbugs find it hard to walk among the fur coats in lower animals like dogs and cats.
Now, humans are often found indoors. The most convenient time for bedbugs to feed without obstruction is nighttime or when else we sleep.
As humans, we prefer to sleep on mattresses, couches, and sofas for maximum comfort. For that reason, bedbugs often settle in these areas and are mostly nocturnal (active at night).
What Are the Signs of Bed bugs on Couch?
To find bed bugs on the couch, inspect the gaps and corners of the cushion. If you find one or more of the following, then your suspicions about bed bugs may be right:
- Thin and tiny black streaks.
Bed bugs aren’t supposed to be neat. So, they often leave their feces behind on mattress seams, sofas, and other places they gather.
These poops have a putrid smell. They appear blackish. And they smear when touched.
- Bloodstains.
When killed, bedbugs leave reddish stains on the infested fabric.
This can be another indicator of bedbugs. But you need to be quite careful because clover mites also produce reddish stains when squished.
One way to tell the difference is that bedbug stains are bloodstains. Clover mites’ red stains aren’t.
- Molted skins and Real Bedbugs
Bed bug nymphs shed off their skin often. Once done, they live their dead and molten skins on couches and beds.
If you notice one or two of these molts, then you may have a bed bug infestation. So, you need to start an anti-bedbug pest control asap.
- Bed bug Bite and responses.
A bed bug bite appears reddish, and it itches a lot. Sometimes, inflammation may occur because of allergies and you can learn more about bed bug bites and treatment here.
But know this; bed bug bites appear on a single file. If you wake up from your bed with one of these, then you most likely have a bed bug situation.
How to Treat Bed bugs and Other Bugs on Couch Cushion and Beds
Getting rid of bedbugs is quite easy. Out there, you will find several ways to prevent bed bugs or launch a full-scale bed bug control.
So, to solve your bed bug problem, let’s talk about the most effective bed bug prevention below:
1. Once you confirm bed bug infestations, start your prevention plan with a thorough laundry.
Pack out all washable bedclothes, sofa-cushion, anything. Then, wash them with a mixture of hot water, detergent, and dish soaps at high speed.
Often, bedbugs and other bugs die off at high temperatures within minutes. So, if you keep your washing machine at about 120 F for 30 minutes, the bed bugs should die.
2. Vacuum the couch, sofa, or mattress and the entire house.
Bed bugs have great stealth because of their small size. So, they often hide inside bed frames, lay their eggs on cushions, and poop on sofas.
To get rid of the eggs, feces, and remnant bed bugs, you can use a steam cleaner on the infested furniture. This will kill the eggs and the bedbugs.
Afterward, you can then vacuum the areas. Freeze the trash bag for about an hour. And then empty the plastic bag somewhere far from your house.
3. As alternatives, you can use some bed bug exterminator sprays.
Some bed bug sprays are so efficient that they keep your couch free of bed bug activity for weeks.
To buy them and other sprays for couch bugs, you can visit your hardware store. And spray them according to the instructions on the labels.
4. Use bed bug traps.
Bug traps are now quite common. They help to lure and kill bugs already on the couch and new ones as well.
Final Recommendations.
On a final note, we say there are several species of couch bugs. In this article, we named a few insect pests as the major culprits.
Other ones not discussed include fleas, spiders, and bed worms.
To get rid of these couch bugs, you can get a hold of the facts in the right section of this article. But also note that to prevent future re-infestation, you can:
- lace your couch with insecticidal dust like diatomaceous earth.
- Get some of the dust in any crevice inside the couch
- And then encase it completely with a new cushion. You can see a video here instead.