4 Jumping Bugs In Bed (2 Of Them Bite Hard)

Your bed is home to many types of bugs and pests. From bed bugs to bed worms, the list is quite long.

But there’s one more set of bugs in your bed. And those are the bugs the hop.

In this guide, you’ll find out four jumping bugs in bed. Two of these bugs are nasty biters and feed on your blood.

One of them is a parasite too.

You’ll find out the source of these bugs, how they land up on your bed, and the best ways to get rid of them from your bed.

Keep reading.

Bugs In Bed That Jump And Hop

Springtails, biting midges, fleas, and fungus gnats are the four jumping bugs in your bed. 

Springtails and fleas have features in their anatomy that make them strong jumpers.

But fungus gnats and biting midges don’t typically jump. Their erratic flight pattern makes them appear as if they jumped when they took off.

Let’s get into each of these bugs and find out how they end up in your bed and how you can get rid of them. 

Springtails – Tiny Black Jumping Bugs In Bed

Springtails are one of the little jumping bugs in bed that can enter your bedroom through the open windows and land on your bed. 

Springtails are minute bugs that grow only up to 0.2 mm or 0.008 inches in size. They come in different colors, such as black, gray, and bluish. 

Springtails are tiny outdoor bugs that feed on decaying organic matter like leaf litter and the molds and mildew that form on them. 

Springtails are common in the warm months of the year, and they inhabit properties that have lush gardens and yards.

Springtails enter homes through the open doors and windows. 

If vegetation touches the windows and doors of your home, then springtails on the plants can use them to jump inside your home.

Springtails are attracted to light. So they can also enter your house through the gaps and cracks in the windows, walls, and doors.

These bugs are mostly accidental intruders. And your house isn’t an ideal habitat for them. 

However, springtail bugs are moisture bugs. So, if they’re inside your home and on your bed, they’ll gravitate towards your bathroom.

Your bathroom is the dampest place in your home where water usage is consistent. 

Springtails are the tiny jumping bugs in your bathroom that hide in the gaps and cracks on the bathroom walls and floors. 

But the best part is that springtails are harmless bugs. They don’t bite. And they don’t spread any diseases either. 

Springtails have a tiny appendage below their abdomen. That appendage is known as furcula. 

Springtails fold the furcula, and it’s invisible when they’re stationary. However, if you try to poke or kill the springtail bugs, they’ll unfold the furcula, creating an upward thrust and causing them to jump. 

It’s their way of escaping any threat.

Getting rid of springtails is easy. If you see springtails in your bed, use a vacuum cleaner to remove them. 

And then, dispose of the vacuum dust bag properly, so they don’t come back.

Also, trim the vegetation along the perimeter of your home’s windows and doors. Many biting bugs and damaging pests can enter your home by using them as a bridge. 

If tree branches are touching your roof, chop them off too. 

Springtails are beneficial bugs as they decompose the organic matter in your yard and send the nutrients back to the soil. 

So, you might not bother yourself by getting rid of them from your yard. 

But if too many of them exist, use soapy water spray to eliminate them. And ensure that there’s no accumulation of organic wastes in your yard.

Control the dampness levels in the soil beds of your yard and potted plants by refraining from overwatering.

Also, seal the gaps and cracks on the windows and doors and use window screens to ensure that springtails and other bugs that gather on the windows don’t sneak inside your home.

Snow fleas, a type of springtail species, are common in cold regions of the US. These bugs can also occasionally enter homes and land on beds.

Biting Midges In Bed – The Tiny Black Jumping Fly That Can Be In Your Bed

Biting midges, also known as no-see-ums or punkies, are the notorious biters that can also land up on your bed.

When biting midges take off, it looks like they jumped. They can’t fly long distances like houseflies and mosquitoes. So, their short flight path makes them appear like jumpers.

Biting midges are a menace in the warmer and coastal states of the US. In these areas, these flies even enter homes.

Biting midges are black or gray, grow only up to 3 mm or 0.11 inches in size, and have transparent white wings with patterns on them. These bugs breed in semi-aquatic regions. 

So, they’re common in the coastal regions of Florida, Texas, and southern California. 

They’re active in the summer months. And they bite campers, hikers, and people near water bodies doing fishing or other activities.

However, they’ve also spread into human habitats over the years. These little black-biting flies can be on your property if there’s lush green vegetation and a waterbody like a swimming pool or pond. 

Biting midges are attracted to light. So, if they’re in your yard or garden, they’ll fly inside your home through open doors and windows, chasing the light source.

And they’ll look for their bloodmeals.

That’s when biting midges will sneak inside your bedroom. The light from the bedroom can attract them, and so can the carbon dioxide you release while breathing.

That’s how biting midges pick humans and animals while they’re outdoors. 

Biting midges have sharp mouthparts that they use to rip open the skin. Then they insert their beak, the proboscis, to draw out the blood. Biting midges’ bites are intensely itchy.

The female biting midges bite. The males don’t. The females need bloodmeals to reproduce their eggs. 

The male midges feed on the flower nectar. 

They’ll jump off if you try to poke a biting midge in your bed or on your skin. 

Biting midges are so tiny and fly off so fast that when they don’t bite, you feel like something bit you and you couldn’t see. 

To get rid of biting midges in your bedroom, spray a mosquito on them to kill them.

But that’s only a stop-gap solution. You’ll have to eliminate their habitat and egg-laying grounds on your property. 

To do that, remove the unnecessary vegetation on your property. Ensure that there’s no water stagnation in your yard or garden. Stagnant water is a breeding ground for many biting flies like mosquitoes.  

Throw mosquito dunks in your pool, fountain, or pond to kill the eggs and larvae of biting midges.

And not to mention, install window screens with fine mesh in all the windows of your home to prevent flies and bugs from entering your home. 

Using bug repellant light bulbs near windows, doorways, patios, and terraces also helps keep bugs that are attracted to light away.

Fleas – Little Brown Jumping Bugs In Bed 

You’re no stranger to fleas, especially when you’ve pets.

Fleas are tiny reddish-brown bugs that grow only up to 1/8th of an inch in size. Fleas are parasites that latch onto the fur and skin of animals to feed on their blood.

Apart from feeding, fleas will also lay eggs on the animal’s skin. And the flea larvae that hatch out of the flea eggs will also reside in the animal’s fur and skin till they mature into adults.

So, how do fleas reach your bed? Your pets bring them to your bed.

If fleas infect your pets, it’s only a matter of time before they will transfer the fleas to your home.

Your bed, couch, and carpet are where your pets will transfer the fleas.

When your pet with fleas sleeps on your couch, bed, carpet, and the pet bed, many flea eggs, and even adult fleas will drop off your pet’s body in these places.

The adult fleas in the bed will bite you for their bloodmeals because they don’t have a furry host around.

Fleas are tiny, making them very hard to spot on your bed.

However, signs of fleas in bed become apparent when fleas are hiding in your bed. 

The best way to get rid of fleas in your home is to extensively clean the home. 

Steam cleaning soft furnishings like the bed mattress, couch, carpet, and rug is critical to kill adult fleas and their larvae and destroy their eggs.

The heat from the steam cleaner is lethal for fleas, their eggs, and for the flea larvae too.

When you try to kill fleas, they jump. Fleas have very strong hind legs that help them to jump up to 2 feet, which is 100 times their body size. 

So, while cleaning your home to eliminate the fleas, you’ll notice the fleas are jumping to escape. 

Fleas also jump when you remove them from your pet’s skin and fur. Besides fleas, many tiny bugs can be parasites on dogs and cats.

A heavy flea infestation in the home can be hard to eliminate because these bugs are masters of hiding.

Fleas can also hide in the gaps of hardwood floors. There are ways to eliminate fleas on hardwood floors.

But if the flea infestation is severe in your home, and all your efforts are failing, then it’ll be best to hire a pest controller to treat fleas in your house. 

However, there are two things that you must always do to ensure that you keep fleas away from your home.

First, take your pet to a vet. If your pet is often scratching and losing hair, there are fleas on your pet. 

Second, remove useless tall grasses or dense vegetation in your yard around damp places. 

Many bugs hide in tall grasses. Fleas are one of them. And when your pets walk through the dense vegetation, fleas latch onto them. 

Ticks are also one of the parasites that hide in these places. They can also latch onto the pets.

Also, control the moisture in your yard. Don’t overwater your yard; don’t let water accumulate or become stagnant. Fleas thrive in moist conditions outdoors. 

Fungus Gnats In Bed

Fungus gnats are tiny black flies of 1/10 – 1/8 inches. They’re soft-bodied, slender, have antennae pairs, and have six delicate legs. 

Fungus gnats are harmless bugs. They don’t bite. But they’re a big nuisance in homes because they spread very fast. 

Fungus gnats in bedrooms and beds are common, especially when there’s an infestation on your property.

Fungus gnats have an erratic flight pattern. And they are not strong fliers like the mosquitoes and houseflies.

So, fungus gnats seem to jump when they take off.

Fungus gnats will appear as tiny black flies on your bed that jump when you try to kill them.

The source of fungus gnats is usually outdoors. They feed on the molds and fungi that form on the wet soil beds of potted plants and yards. 

Adult fungus gnats are harmless to plants. But their larvae, which is a tiny white worms, feed on the roots of the seedlings.

That can cause damage to seedlings and tiny plants.

There are two ways that fungus gnats can enter homes. First, you bring plant pots with fungus gnats on them.

Second, fungus gnats fly inside your home by following the light bulb in your home. Yes, fungus gnats are attracted to light too.

Fungus gnats are the most common tiny black bugs that gather around the windows trying to make their way inside your house by following the light from the light bulbs.

Fungus gnats are nuisance bugs. And they chase sources of moisture. 

So, despite being in your bedroom, fungus gnats will prefer places like the kitchen and bathroom.

Fungus gnats in the kitchen can even get inside appliances like dishwashers and coffee makers, chasing moisture and molds.

Removing wastes from your property and spraying soapy water on the soil beds eliminates the vast majority of the fungus gnats population in your yard.

Not to mention, controlling moisture and dampness in your yard also goes a long way to keep away moisture bugs in your yard and home.

To eliminate fungus gnats inside your house, keep yellow sticky traps in your house, especially in your kitchen and bathroom, and on the soil beds of your house plants. The yellow color attracts the fungus gnats.

Other Occasional Jumping Bugs In Bed

Some bugs that jump (many don’t hop, but it appears as if they’re jumping) can be in your bed. 

These bugs are drain flies, dust mites, moths, weevils, and carpet beetles. These bugs aren’t typically bugs that live and thrive in your bed. 

But if they’re in large numbers in your home, they can be in unlikely places like your bed, living room, and laundry room. 

However, dust mites feed on dead skin cells and dander on human skin. So, dust mites in bed are common if there’s a dust mite problem in your home.

Dust mites don’t jump, and they’re hard to spot. And it’s from the bed that many people get allergic attacks from dust mites.

Summary

Springtails, fleas, fungus gnats, and biting midges are the usual jumping bugs in bed. Fleas and biting midges are the ones that bite. It’s the fleas that are parasites on your pets.

Your pet can bring fleas to your bed. And if they’re not your pets’ skin, they can bite you to get their bloodmeals. 

To get rid of these bugs from your bed and home, you’ll have to treat them at their source. 

This guide revealed what their sources are and how you can eliminate them from their source.