Upload a photo of the bug or the damage, or answer a few questions instead. You get a careful best guess, a plain warning when the picture is not clear enough to be sure, and what to do next. Some problems need a wildlife specialist, a plant expert, or your local health department rather than a pest control company, and we will tell you when that is the case.
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You get a careful best guess and a clear next step.
Drag & drop a photo here
or use the buttons below. A close, well-lit shot of the pest, plant damage, droppings, nest, or product damage works best.
AI guidance can be wrong and is not a pest inspection, plant diagnosis, or medical advice. PestPin does not store the photo. Your browser removes metadata and sends the resized image to our image-analysis service with zero-data-retention and provider data collection disabled. Do not upload people, skin, injuries, or bites. Suspected venom exposure? Call Poison Control 1-800-222-1222. Seek medical care for symptoms and call 911 for an emergency.
This helps us point you to the right kind of professional, not just guess a bug name.
Question 1 of 6. What kind of place or property is affected?
Know what it is? Get help next.
Send a free request and we check whether a local pest control company can take it, or browse licensed companies in your state and call one yourself. A response or quote is not guaranteed.
Quick answer
A clear photo of the bug, or of what it left behind (droppings, chewed wood, webbing in the pantry, a nest), usually narrows it to a family of pests. The questions add where you are and what kind of place it is. Neither is a diagnosis. When the picture is unclear, when it is a bite or a rash, a honeybee swarm, or a farm or wildlife matter, we point you to the right specialist instead of a pest control company.
No bug expertise needed. These are things anyone can notice, and they're the same clues the tool uses.
The room, and whether it showed up during the day or at night, is usually the biggest clue. Kitchens, bathrooms, beds, attics, and woodwork each point to different pests.
This is often more useful than the bug itself: droppings, dark spotting or shed skins in furniture seams, shed wings by a window, sawdust, mud tubes on the foundation, or a nest. A bite pattern alone cannot name a pest.
Compare it to something everyday, like a sesame seed, a grain of rice, a coin, or bigger. You do not need to be exact.
Whether it flew, crawled, or jumped narrows things down quickly.
Feed those clues into the photo tool or the quick questions to narrow a broad category and see who may be able to help. The result can be wrong and is not an on-site identification.
The same bug in a kitchen, a barn, a lawn, a warehouse or an attic can call for a different license and different experience. So the tool decides who should help separately from its guess at what the bug is. We offer to send a request only where our license records can back it up; for everything else we say what to check before you hire anyone.
Homes, apartments, rentals, and multifamily properties
Pick the pest below and we narrow down the kind of visit to ask for.
Check: Check that the company works on your kind of property and holds the license your state requires for that work.
Rodents, bats, birds, snakes, raccoons, squirrels, and similar animals
Rules, seasons and permits for animals differ by state and by species. Getting an animal out and sealing it out is different work from treating insects.
Check: A pest control license does not show wildlife experience. Ask what permits your state requires for that animal and whether the company has done this work before.
Lawns, gardens, trees, greenhouse plants, and ornamental landscapes
Damage to plants can come from insects, disease, watering, soil or weather, and a photo alone often cannot tell them apart. Our records do not show who does lawn or plant work.
Check: Start with a local plant clinic or your county Extension office, or a company whose lawn or plant license you can check.
Homes, warehouses, mills, food storage, and packaged dry goods
Which package or product it came in matters as much as the bug. Set the affected food apart and check the packages next to it.
Check: Our records do not show who handles pests in stored food. Ask about that experience, and about food-business work if this is a business, before you hire.
Termites, carpenter ants, wood-boring beetles, and unexplained wood damage
Different wood pests need different treatment. Keep a sample or the shed wings, and leave the damage as it is until someone has inspected it.
Check: Ask for the termite or wood-destroying insect credential your state requires, especially if you need a report for a home sale.
Mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, biting flies, and problems affecting a whole neighborhood
A pest company can treat your property. If people are getting sick, or the problem covers a whole neighborhood, your local health department is the right call too.
Check: Our records do not show who does mosquito or tick work. Ask the company whether it is licensed for it, and see a doctor about any symptoms.
Restaurants, hotels, healthcare, schools, offices, warehouses, and manufacturing
A business usually needs a written program: regular inspections, monitoring, and records that hold up in a health inspection or an audit.
Check: Our records do not show who does commercial or food-facility work. Ask for that experience, the paperwork they provide, their insurance, and how fast they come back when you call.
Crops, livestock, nurseries, rights-of-way, public land, and regulated invasive species
What to do about a crop pest or a regulated species depends on the plant, the county, the season, and state or federal rules. A home pest company is not the right default.
Check: Start with your county Extension office or the agriculture, wildlife or health agency responsible, and use a licensed commercial applicator if they advise one.
Where you tend to run into each one, and the everyday sign that gives it away. The tool above does the real narrowing.
Where: Kitchens and bathrooms, at night
Sign: A flat brown bug that darts away fast when the light comes on
Where: Trails along walls and counters
Sign: A line of tiny insects marching to and from food
Where: Wood, foundations, windowsills
Sign: Little discarded wings by a window, mud tubes, or wood that sounds hollow
Where: Mattress seams and headboards
Sign: A flat reddish-brown bug, dark spotting, pale eggs, or shed skins in furniture seams
Where: Ankles, carpet, pet bedding
Sign: Tiny dark specks that jump, and itchy bites low on the legs
Where: Attic, walls, along baseboards
Sign: Droppings, gnaw marks, and scratching in the walls at night
Where: Attic, roofline, crawl space
Sign: A bigger animal, and noises coming from above the ceiling
Where: Corners, basements, garages
Sign: A web in a corner or window frame, with the spider sitting in it or darting along the baseboard
Where: Eaves and ground nests
Sign: A papery nest under the eaves and insects that sting
Where: Yards, near standing water
Sign: Whining fliers and itchy welts, worst at dawn and dusk
A fast starting point for the most-searched “tiny bugs in my ___” questions. It's a guide, not a diagnosis.
Kitchen counters and pantry
Most likely: Ants, or pantry beetles in dry food
How to tell: A trail leading to food, or tiny beetles inside flour, cereal, or spices
Bathroom, around the drain
Most likely: Drain flies or a cockroach
How to tell: Fuzzy, moth-like flies at the sink, or a flat insect that darts from the light
On the bed or mattress seams
Most likely: Bed bugs
How to tell: Small reddish-brown ovals, plus little dark spots on the sheets
Around ankles or on carpet
Most likely: Fleas
How to tell: Tiny dark specks that jump, and itchy bites low on the legs
On windowsills
Most likely: Gnats, boxelder bugs, or cluster flies
How to tell: Small fliers gathering toward the light
Damp basements or under sinks
Most likely: Silverfish or springtails
How to tell: A wingless, silver, teardrop insect that darts, or specks that hop near moisture
The pairs that get confused most, and the one thing that tells them apart, starting with the one that matters.
This one is worth getting right. A pile of discarded wings indoors, mud tubes, or hollow-sounding wood means treat it as a possible termite and get an inspection. Winged ants at a light can come from an outdoor swarm or an indoor nest, so identify the insect and inspect the site before dismissing it.
Full comparisonBites alone cannot distinguish them. Bed bugs leave insects, dark spotting, pale eggs, or shed skins in furniture seams. Fleas are tiny insects that jump and are often found near animal resting areas.
Evidence comparisonA cockroach is a flat, fast bug that scatters from the light, and many so-called water bugs are just big roaches. A beetle has a hard, rounded shell and moves slower.
Cockroach guideCarpenter ants are larger dark ants that push out little piles of sawdust. Termites eat the wood itself and leave mud tubes. Both damage wood, so confirm with a pro.
Termite guideDeep dives for the signs people search most, each with the likely culprits, the quick tells, and a 10-minute check list.
A clear photo is useful evidence to preserve for an inspector or an identification service.
Get as close as your camera can still focus so the bug is not a tiny dot, and crop out the clutter around it.
Natural light or a bright lamp works best. Avoid deep shadow and harsh flash glare.
A sharp, in-focus photo beats a zoomed-in blurry one every time.
A coin or small ruler beside the subject shows how big it really is. Do not place a hand near an unknown pest.
If you cannot get the bug itself, take a picture of what it left: droppings, mud tubes, shed wings, or damage.
Start with what you can actually see: where it appeared, when activity occurs, and evidence such as an insect, droppings, shed wings, a nest, product webbing, or damage. Then use a clear photo or the quick questions. The tool narrows a broad category and next step, but it can be wrong and does not replace an on-site or lab identification.
Tiny bugs following a line along a kitchen counter may be ants heading to food. A flat, fast bug that scatters when the light comes on may be a cockroach. Beetles or larvae inside flour, cereal, or spices suggest a stored-product pest. A clear photo plus the exact location can narrow the category, but an on-site check may still be needed.
Bites alone cannot identify either pest. Look for a flat reddish-brown bug, dark spotting, eggs, or shed skins in mattress and furniture seams for bed bugs. Fleas are tiny jumping insects often found near animal resting areas. A collected insect or clear site evidence matters more than the shape or location of a bite.
Shed wings alone can come from either one. What points to termites is the setting: a small pile of discarded wings by a window or door, mud tubes on the foundation, or wood that sounds hollow when you tap it. Flying ants around a light are usually just a nuisance. Save a few of the insects in a bag and arrange a wood-destroying insect inspection rather than treating from a photo alone.
A bite pattern cannot reliably name the pest. Bed bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, mites, skin conditions, and other causes can look alike. Look for an actual insect or site evidence away from skin. Use a clinician for symptoms, Poison Control for suspected venom exposure, and the pest identifier only for a pest or pest sign.
Getting close on your own helps you act faster and know what to ask. A licensed inspector can examine the site and may confirm the exact pest, which matters most for termites, bed bugs, rodents, and any spider you think could be a recluse or widow. This tool is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Small fuzzy, moth-like flies near a sink or shower drain are often drain flies, which breed in wet organic buildup. A fast, flat insect that darts from the light may be a cockroach. A wingless, silver, teardrop-shaped insect may be a silverfish. Cleaning the actual breeding source can control drain flies, but check other wet sources if activity continues; a recurring roach problem is worth a professional inspection.
Results vary with focus, scale, lighting, life stage, and whether the key feature is visible. A clear photo can narrow a broad category, but it may still be wrong and should not replace an inspection, lab identification, plant clinic, or medical advice. The tool can return an uncertain result or ask for a clearer photo, and it never uses a skin mark to identify a pest.
A photo may narrow the subject to a spider and show useful features, but do not rely on it to decide that an unknown spider is harmless. Medically serious spiders can resemble common species. If there is any chance it is a recluse or widow, or someone was bitten, keep your distance and seek professional guidance. For suspected venom exposure, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or seek medical care.
Relevant PestPin pages show the public license-record source and processing date. A public record does not prove every specialty, service area, or capability, so confirm those details before hiring. A request is offered to one available pest control company at a time and may remain pending if none is available.
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