We can help with effective removal of Carpet Beetle in your home
Shown in the above picture is a Carpet Beetle larva grazing on carpeting. Note the small hairs that when shed can be an irritant to the skin.
The Carpet Beetle, or Varied Carpet Beetle, is extremely destructive if left to forage and damage carpets and clothing. Natural fabrics such as wools, silks, furs, feathers and cottons are a prime target. Carpet beetle larvae, known as ‘woolly bears’, avoid the light and live indoors, usually in dark, undisturbed places such as under carpets and inside wardrobes and clothing cupboards.
Carpet beetle infestation can be readily identified by remnants of frass, which is the beetles’ excrement coloured to what the insect is feeding on. It’s a dry, uniform pattern consisting of tiny granules. Additional evidence can be noted with cast larval skins scattered across the infested area. These are cast empty skins left behind when the beetle moults from one stage of it’s lifecycle to the next. Carpet beetle larvae, known as ‘woolly bears’ are also often found in birds nests and usually beetles gain access to properties via the loft from bird’s nests in the eaves. They usually spread down in to the property via the airing cupboard.
About Carpet Beetles
The beetles are fairly small, measuring 1.5 to 4mm in length. The body is strongly convex, rather like the ladybird beetle and is characterised by the pattern of yellow, black and whitish scales on the body. Between 20 and 100 eggs are laid by the female during spring and early summer on furs, woollens and any dried materials of animal origin.
When the larvae hatch out, they are hairy and brown with three bunches of golden hairs on the abdomen. They normally reach a length of 4-5mm. They tend to avoid the light and, when disturbed, curl up into a ball. The eggs hatch between 10 to 35 days depending on the temperature. The larvae can last at least a year depending on the quality of the food supply. The adult beetle lives from 7-41 days. The adults appear in April, May and June and their resulting larvae hibernate during the following winter pupating during the latter part of February and March. On emergence the adult beetles seek the light so they usually fly to the windows. They fly to light coloured flowers where they feed on nectar and pollen. After mating, the females enter houses during late summer and autumn and lay their eggs in birds’ nests in roof voids and other suitable places.
Further advice
If you would like further advice please contact us at Norfolk & Norwich Pest Control where we will be pleased to advise further and an effective method to clear Carpet Beetles from your property. Please call us on 01603 905530.
