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Carpet Beetle Control

   To control carpet beetles it is good to know a little bit about them. Carpet beetles exist throughout the United States and other parts of the world. The adult carpet beetle will spend most of its life outside feeding on plants. During the warmer months they will find their way into homes through windows, open doors and screened openings. Carpet beetles will fly and can fit into any small opening. It is suspected there are certain scents or odors which attract the carpet beetle into your home.

Black Carpet Beetle Black Carpet Beetle
 
  Carpet beetles are scavengers that feed on a variety of natural products such as hides, hair, grains, wool and taxidermy animals. The more common species of carpet beetle include the varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci), the black carpet beetle (Attagenus spp.) and the furniture carpet beetle. The carpet beetle is more common then most people realize. This is mainly because they usually don't develop into large populations that are easy to see. You are likely to find one or two but if left unchecked their populations will grow and have the ability to cause a lot of damage to your clothing, rugs, carpets and other household linen.

 Black Carpet Beetle Black Carpet Beetle

The female carpet beetle will lay 50 to 100 eggs on surfaces that are close to a food source for the larva. An adult carpenter beetle may live up to four years and can lay eggs once a year; it is just as important to eradicate the adult beetle as well as the larva. The larva is the most destructive stage of the carpet beetle, this stage can last nearly a year. The carpet beetle larva will eat just about anything including carpet, furniture, clothes, drapery, pet or human hair, silk, insect meal, seeds, grain, corn and wool. Even most synthetic carpets have some natural content mixed in during the manufacturing process.

 

Carpet Beetle Larva Carpet Beetle Larva

 

Carpet beetles can be found on the underside of furniture, along the baseboard where carpet meets molding, under area rugs, or in closets.  When treating carpet beetles it is important to cover all areas and to inspect your home carefully, especially in places that you usually don’t look. The adult carpet beetle will roam and generally does not stay in one area to often, when controlling carpet beetles you will need to treat all the carpets in your house as well as clean any other fabrics.

 

The Size of a carpet beetle

 

 

Carpet beetles are not to be confused with moths, with moth infestations they are easy to identify because you will find adult moths flying around the clothing they are infesting. You will readily find adult moths, pupa casing or cocoons and larva in your clothes and they tend to stay where they are feeding.

 

Varied Carpet Beetle A Varied Carpet beetle

 

Controlling carpet beetle infestations can be difficult mainly because they are active in small areas but they are likely several such areas throughout the home and they tend to be active in hidden areas. Finding carpet beetles is not an easy task because unlike many other pests Carpet beetle infestations are more likely to be discovered because of the damage they do and not because large populations. Carpet beetle control then gets a little trickier because the carpet beetle has a defense mechanism against treatments. Although larva and adults can be easily killed, eggs and pupa are not. This is because eggs and pupa which hatch after the treatment are protected by there encasings. To prevent further infestation and to have total carpet beetle control it is recommended that you treat several times after the initial treatment.

 

Carpet Beetle Control Overview:

 

  1. Treat all carpets, area rugs, linen, and wash any stored clothes.
  2. Treat all fabric furniture and make sure that you get every nook and cranny.
  3. Carpet beetle larva lay deep in the fabric, make sure you apply enough treatment to penetrate the fabric.
  4. To have carpet beetle control you must apply treatment more then once depending on the product.
  5. Check around and in your house for dead rodents or animals, carpet beetles are attracted and will consume the fur.
  6. Thoroughly vacuuming your carpets and house will help prevent some carpet beetle infestations.  Especially if you have household pets that shed fur.