What an adult bed bug actually looks like
Flat, oval, mahogany-brown, roughly 5mm long — about the size of an apple pip. After a blood meal they swell and turn a deeper red.
The droppings give them away first
Before you see a live bug, you'll usually see fecal spotting: tiny dark ink-like dots along mattress seams, behind the headboard, on bed frame joints and on skirtings near the bed.
Where to look in a Stoke Newington N16 flat
Mattress piping and seams first, then the bed frame joints, the headboard, skirtings within 1m of the bed, under loose wallpaper, and behind picture frames on the wall the bed touches.
What to do if you spot one
Don't squash it, don't move bedding into other rooms, don't spray it with shop-bought insecticide — all three spread the problem. Photograph it for your technician and call 0204 569 0701 for same-day inspection across N16 and the wider Hackney borough.