Frustrated with carpet beetles as they are constantly ruining your carpets and clothes? Afraid that your house will soon become the dungeon of carpet beetles? Don’t know what precautions you should take?
Don’t worry, we know how to get rid of them. If you don’t know about the havoc of carpet beetles and don’t know what to do, stay with us, and we will guide you to freedom from carpet beetles.
Here you will get to know how to identify carpet beetles and their eggs and larvae.
You’ll know how they get into our houses and what attracts them.
There are a few types of carpet beetles and you’ll know about them.
The signs of their infestation, their harmful sides, their foods and habits, and how to prevent their invasion, everything has been included here.
Recommended Carpet Beetles Treatment
If you’re dealing with a carpet beetle infestation, it’s crucial to take immediate action and implement effective treatment methods. There are several recommended products that can help you eliminate these pesky insects and protect your carpets and fabrics.
| Image | Product | Details | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
HARRIS Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade, 4lb with Powder | Indeed, it can effectively eliminate carpet beetles. | Check Price |
 |
Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer | Not Just Carpet Beetles Kills all common listed household bugs | Check Price |
 |
Mighty Mint |
One of the best sprays for Insect Elimination | Check Price |
To effectively fight carpet beetle infestations and protect your home, use the recommended products and follow a comprehensive treatment approach.
Table of Contents
What Are Carpet Beetles?
The name speaks for itself: A beetle that feasts on carpets. Actually, a carpet beetle is a small species of beetle whose larvae are harmful to carpets, clothes, utensils, furniture, plants, and so many things.
They are somewhat similar to carpet moths that also damage our carpets. Except carpet beetles are a bit bigger in size than carpet moths. Their larvae are more harmful to us than adults.
It’s difficult to completely get rid of them without hiring an exterminator or a pest control service.
What Causes Carpet Beetles?
Is a carpet beetle born in our house from a dark place or something? No, they don’t. Adult carpet beetles can be found nearby any crape myrtle or other plant where they can feast on pollen and nectar. So, how can they get into our houses?
Do you know what causes carpet moths?
They could be entering our houses with our pets or they could be flying their way in. Or else, they could get into our houses through infected food items like cereals, pet foods, seeds, or plant-based items.
What Attracts Carpet Beetles?
Carpet beetles are fond of two things genuinely: Warmth and food.
They love the indoors because of the warmth. They seek shelter in our houses to feel warm and also the light that goes on at night. That’s why you don’t see them often in abandoned houses because those places are cold and don’t have any light.
Of course, every living being requires food. A Carpet beetle’s favorite food is our wool, natural fibers, carpets, clothes, furniture, utensils, stored foods (rarely), etc. All of those things are household items and can only be found in houses.
How To Identify Carpet Beetles?
Identifying carpet beetles is quite easy. They are black or dark brown in color. They are about 2 millimeters to 5 millimeters long. Almost every species of carpet beetle is oval-shaped. They have chewing mouthparts to destroy our carpets and clothes.
They have very short clubbed antennae. Only Varied Carpet beetles have a unique colorway and pattern. They are white and yellow in color with an irregular pattern.
How To Identify Carpet Beetles Eggs And Larvae
Sometimes you notice carpet beetles’ eggs and larvae before you spot any of those insects. But how would you know that those eggs and larvae are carpet beetles?
The eggs of carpet beetles are cream or white in color and they are less than 1 millimeter. Well, all the eggs of insects might look similar so it’s difficult to recognize and classify them.
As for larvae, it’s easier to identify them. Carpet beetle larvae are also known as ‘wooly bears’. They are larger than a full-grown beetle. Larvae are 2.5 centimeters long on average and have a light brown or black color.
They have black hair all over their body, excluding the three golden hairs on their core.
Life Cycle Of Carpet Beetles
All carpet beetles go through the metamorphosis process to start their life cycle. They had to experience an approach to pass through the egg stage, larval stage, and pupal stage. Most carpet beetles will develop about four generations, however, there are exceptions.
The Varied Carpet Beetles and Black Carpet Beetles usually develop only one generation. Female carpet beetles can lay more than 100 eggs at the same time. Those eggs will hatch into larvae between 7 to 35 days.
Adult carpet beetles appear in spring or in summer. Young carpet beetles develop between ten months to two years. Although the adult carpet beetles would only survive for a few weeks, the cycle would repeat from females laying hundreds of eggs at once.
Types Of Carpet Beetles
Carpet beetles are from the beetle family, scientifically known as Dermestidae. There are two genera of carpet beetles. Those two genera have a few carpet beetles, but only one from each is typically seen in households.
Attagenus
- Black Carpet Beetle
Even if they are called black carpet beetles, they aren’t black in color but they are reddish brown in color.
They are covered in bristles. The larvae feed on clothing, natural fibers, carpets, furniture, etc.
Anthrenus
- Varied Carpet Beetle
These carpet beetles are 3 millimeters long and round shaped. They feed on natural fibers, dead insects, animal hair, feathers, etc.
The larvae are shaped and elongated which makes it easier to recognize whether your house is stormed by Varied Carpet Beetles or not. You have to worry about them if you live in Europe.
Carpet Beetles Habits And Food
fibers,Carpet beetles would usually eat carpet fibers as the name generated from there. However, that wouldn’t be the case every time. Carpet beetles won’t eat your carpets if the carpets are made of synthetic materials.
No need to get relieved if you have a synthetic carpet because they will feed on synthetic materials if those materials are coated with oil, sweat, and food.
The larvae of carpet beetles eat foods that are rich in carbs. They also feed on dead skin flakes, items produced from keratin (fingernails, feathers, hairs, etc.), and chitin (spider and insect skins).
Sometimes adult carpet beetles eat dried foods like rice and flour. Females tend to lay eggs where there are a bunch of foods stored so that the larvae can get a massive amount of food to eat from the get-go.
Signs Of Infestation: How To Know If You Have Carpet Beetles Or Not
Alright, you know about what carpet beetles eat, how they are born, and what types of carpet beetles you could encounter. But how can you identify your house is being invaded by them?
- Fibrous Materials getting damaged
The most common sign of carpet beetle infestation is your fabric items getting damaged. It’s because the Beatles mostly feed on eating fabrics. If your carpets and curtains are getting eaten out, the Beatles could be responsible for it.
But only one sign cannot ensure that they are carpet beetles, right? They could be bed bugs or any other insect.
- Holes in clothes
Clothes are also made from fabrics, not every clothes but most of them for day-to-day use. It’s not rare for clothes to get damaged by carpet beetles. If you spot holes in your clothes, you can easily blame them. They are fond of eating clothes more than any other insects.
Still, there is a thin chance of the insects being bed bugs. Move on to the next sign to know more.
- Shed skins
If this sign matches your situation, then you can be 90% sure that the carpet beetles have invaded your home. Carpet Beetles undergo a molting process, where they have to shed their skin and develop a new one instead.
The skins appear to be gauzy with a yellow or brown shade and they are shaped like sunflower seeds.
Still, you cannot be 100% sure they are carpet beetles because those skins also look similar to bed bug skins.
- Skin irritation
If you want to be 100% sure whether or not you have carpet beetle infestation, match this sign.
The larval hair and hemolymph of carpet beetles cause dermatitis. A disease that would cause skin irritation, rash, etc. Even if the disease isn’t life-threatening, still you have to be cautious. If you experience skin irritation, that’s your cue to the infestation of carpet beetles.
How Harmful Carpet Beetles Are
Carpet beetles aren’t very harmful to human beings. They don’t bite us and don’t contaminate our food. But they aren’t so friendly either. Let’s see how harmful carpet beetles can be.
Dermatitis
Probably the only thing that irritates me more than eating carpets and clothes is this disease. Even if Dermatitis isn’t life-threatening, it still can be a very detrimental disease.
You could suffer from airway irritation if you inhale their larval hair. People with a vulnerable immune system could suffer from a grave problem and sometimes it could result in anaphylaxis.
Eating plants and fabrics
Your fibrous items such as clothes, curtains, carpets, etc. will be damaged severely by carpet beetles. Also, your plants won’t be safe from them. But they rarely feed on plants, they would only conduct in eating plants if they couldn’t find any food of their choice.
The most problematic issue is that you would soon experience financial problems due to replacing your clothes, carpets, utensils, and curtains. Their infestation needs to be stopped and prevented. But how would you do that?
Prevention: How To Get Rid Of Carpet Beetles
It’s very difficult to get rid of them entirely all by yourself. Even if they are a mild nuisance only, and don’t bite us, still, they cause a lot of trouble. As it’s not manageable to get rid of them completely, we need to prevent their infestation.
- Vacuuming and cleaning
Cleaning is the most efficient way to avoid their invasion. The more you keep your houses clean, the less chances of carpet beetles infesting your house. But what areas should you clean more often?
First, clean the dark undisturbed areas. Generally, those areas are the closets, under your beds, your carpet edges, and cracks in your house. Vacuum them well and clean those areas with hot water for better results.
- Mitigating presence
If you notice a smaller group of carpet beetles in your house, try to keep the numbers as low as possible. That way you would be able to prevent their numbers from growing.
Just minimal maintenance could work like charm. Keep the house clean every day, clean up your messes, be hygienic, and be cautious of your kids and pets not to mess with the place.
- Clean your clothes and utensils every day
Cleaning is the main essence of preventing those annoying carpet beetles. The carpet beetles tend to attack the carpets, clothes, and utensils more. So, try to clean your clothes every day.
If you have a carpeted kitchen, be sure to clean your kitchen carpet regularly; otherwise an infestation could start from your kitchen.
We often feel a bit lazy to clean our clothes and pile them up. We do the same with utensils. If we want our fabrics safe and sound, don’t want dermatitis, and don’t want to live with carpet beetles, we have to move ourselves up and get to work.
- Hire an exterminator
Probably our last resort is hiring a professional exterminator or contacting a pest control service. People have a misconception about hiring an exterminator that they think exterminators can only throw the beetles away.
But they can also take measures so that those carpet beetles can never get into your house. Another effective method is using the Ortho Home Defense product. you can easily learn how to use it.
You can use it yourself without the help of a professional. You can get it from any store, market or mall. For the record, you can get it for the lowest price from Here.
References
At Carpet Canyon, we consider it essential to adopt a thorough and precise method to carefully choose and effectively utilize references. We place great value on our approach to ensure that we have reliable and trustworthy sources to support our work. This contributes to building our reputation and credibility as a trusted organization.
We have a big network with many reliable sources, like famous experts, research papers, leading publications, and databases. We carefully assess every source we use to make sure it is reliable and current.
