Are carpet beetles bugging you?

Do you ever notice damage to your clothing or other pieces of fabric in your home? It is possible you may have a household pest called the carpet beetle. While adult carpet beetles are easier to spot and actually do not cause any damage to your household items, it’s the larvae or offspring of these insects that you need to be careful of.

Adult carpet beetles may only live for a few weeks and are easier to see because they are usually attracted to bright lights or outside plants. The problem comes when these adult carpet beetles start to lay their eggs. These eggs are usually found near their food source which can be any place where lint collects such as baseboards, in the duct work of hot-air furnace systems, or with wool clothing that is being kept in storage.

Larvae usually take 6-11 days to hatch and a female beetle will lay 50-100 of these eggs that are whitish in color. Larval will usually live between 250-650 days and spend this time looking for foods that contain some type of animal fibers.

Some signs of damage are random holes in a garment or fabric, sometimes found around the collar of a shirt or garment. The damage caused by these beetles is different from that of a clothes moth because the latter may leave cocoons or larvae which would be found in or near your clothing.

To avoid infestations from these carpet beetles try to keep your house as dust free as possible and make sure to vacuum your carpet regularly.

Contact us for more help or tips on how to prevent household pests.