Hello,

Good news and bad news. The bad news is these are not the cause of the itchy welts. Have you done any sort of nature walking recently? Some critters, like chiggers and larval ticks, might not be noticed when they bite or drop off a person, but the itching welt is extreme and can last up to 2 weeks. The good news is these are relatively harmless insects. What you have is a larval dermestid beetle. They are very common in houses. The larvae feed on dust, dander, hair, old crumbs, any sort of organic debris and are among the few insects that can live in houses year round. It is not a sign of a 'dirty' house, they are extreme scavengers and do not need much to be happy. The reason I say 'relatively' is there are a few instances where they can be a problem. If you have any sort of woolen cloth, taxidermy or furs in the home, or, like me, an insect collection in the home, they will feed on that. 

Hope that helps!

David Owens

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Thank you for your reply. My husband is a regular volunteer removing invasive plants from public land on a weekly basis. I will continue to search our home for evidence to help identify the cause of our itchy welts. Shall I post future inquiry to this or a separate thread?

Please identify this pest (photographed on front and back sides), noticed on the laundry room floor while laundering a comforter. Could it be the casing of a bed bug? Thanks in advance for your help!

Fortunately, it is not a bedbug. On the back-end of this insect there are 3 tube like structures called cerci. The lower insect orders have them - silverfish, crickets, cockroaches, earwigs, and many of the aquatic insect groups. Bedbugs do not. An adult bedbug is about the size of a small finger nail with a rounded abdomen that ends in a round point and no cerci. The picture is difficult to tell exactly who you found there, I have sent the photo to others to weigh in. If I hear anything more definitive i will let you know!

Thanks,

David Owens

Aha, that didn't take long. Dr. Matt Bertone, NCSU insect diagnostician, replied and confirmed it [was] a silverfish. Also common in houses, usually around old cardboard boxes where they tend to eat starchy glues. 

David

Well that's a relief, but I'm still "itching" to figure out what's causing our distress. Stay tuned ... with many thanks to you both for your insights.