5 Difference Between Bed Bugs and Scabies with Similarities

What is the difference between bed bugs and scabies?

The bite from bed bugs and scabies are often confused with each other. Both pests are known to cause itchy bites. The bites sometimes look like eczema or mosquito bites which increase the amount of confusion.

Bed bugs and scabies bites require different treatment methods and removal as they are different organisms.

The main difference between bed bugs and scabies is that bed bugs suck blood while on top of the hosts’ skin while scabies burrows themselves under the dermis as they suck blood and lay eggs there.

You May Also Like: Difference between Dust Mites and Bed Bugs

Comparison Table (Bed bugs vs Scabies)

Characteristics	Bed bugs	Scabies
How they feed	They suck blood while on top of the hosts’ skin.	They burrow under the dermis as they suck blood and lay eggs there.
Appearance	They have a flat oval body.	They have a round-sac-like body.
Bites	It is a raised, flat red welts.	More rash-like in appearance.
Where they infest	They infest dark dry places.	They infest under the skin.
Transferring	They are transferred in objects.	They are transferred through direct contact with an infected person.

What Are Bed Bugs?

They are insects that mostly feed on human blood especially at night. Their bites result in a number of effects which include skin rash and allergic symptoms.

The bites do not transfer any infectious disease. They spread by crawling to nearby locations or carried with personal items.

The infestation is more common in high-density areas but is said to be due to poor hygiene that they infest an area. They spend much of their time in dark places.

They can survive up to 70 days without feeding and this makes it difficult to eliminate them from a home. Repeated treatments may be required in order for them to be eliminated from a home.

They are bloodsuckers and their mouthparts are well adapted to the function. They prefer exposed skin when the person is sleeping.

They are attracted to the host by carbon dioxide, chemicals, and warmth. When starved, it will leave its shelter and search for the host.

What Is Scabies?

Scabies is a contagious skin infection. They burrow under the skin from where they suck blood and lay eggs. They cause severe itchiness and a pimple-like rash.

The itch is made worse due to warmth and it becomes worse at night. The burrows appear in the area of the finger web, feet, ventral wrists, elbows, back, buttocks, and external genitals.

Crusted scabies appears in people with a weak immune system. The host becomes a more conducive breeding ground for the mites. It finally spreads over the hosts’ body.

People with crusted scabies show scaly rashes, slight itching, and thick crusts of skin that contain numerous numbers of scabies mites. Crusted scabies is more contagious than typical scabies.

Scabies is contracted through prolonged physical contact with an infected person. It may be sexual intercourse although the majority of the transmission occurs through skin-to-skin contact.

You May Also Like: Difference between Bug and Beetle

Main Differences between Bed Bugs and Scabies

Bed bugs suck blood while they are on top of the hosts’ skin while scabies burrows themselves under the skin of the host from where they suck blood and lay eggs.
Bed bugs have flat oval bodies while scabies has round sac-like bodies.
Bed bugs’ bites are raised flat red welts while scabies’ bites are more of a rash-like appearance.
Bed bugs are transferred in objects while scabies is transferred through contact.

Similarities between Bed Bugs and Scabies

They both suck blood.
They both cause itchiness.
Both are wingless.

In Conclusion

Bed bugs and scabies both may cause harm to the host. They suck blood and too much of it may make the host become anemic. Bed bugs suck blood from the host when they are on top of the hosts’ skin while scabies burrows themselves under the skin from where they suck blood from and lay eggs.

The main feature that makes bed bugs different from scabies is the way they suck blood from the host.

Sources and references: