Definitely not a bed bug

5643   Pls see photos attached. I live just outside of Vancouver ,in the Lower Mainland. The other day,  I found a dead bug in the corner of my son’s bed, in between the sheet and mattress cover.   It looks like it has been dead for some time. I am worried sick that  it is a bed bug. I also found a flea at the same time. I’m horrified. We just moved into a upper floor of a three bedroom home. As soon as we moved in,  my son started to get bit on his lower left leg. Big welts that were very itchy and made worse with the scratching.  He never had any bites in our old home where we lived for 13 years. So after he got these bites,  that is when i looked in his bed and found this one dead bug and one flea. (I’m wondering if he got the flea from the long grass outside. We never had fleas or bites before).  I kept this dead bug under a glass. I need someone to please ID it for me before I go crazy. We have torn apart the beds looking for anything. We have not found a thing. No black marks,  no bugs at all. I’ve spent hours researching on the net,  so I know what to look for. There were some small blood smears on his white comforter but he says that he picks at things! Even took off the gauze under the box spring. ..nothing. we’ve only been in this house for a week.  Thanks very much, Leslie

Definitely not a bed bug; this poor creature has lost so much of its appendages as to make a positive identification problematic. Among the possibilities is a silverfish (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae), these are harmless nuisance pests that would not be responsible for any bites. Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.