Are you noticing little black beetles with stripes crawling near your window sills or flooring in the Vancouver Washington or Portland Oregon area? It may be that you have carpet beetles. These pests like to come inside and are often seen around lighted areas of your home.
What Are Carpet Beetles
Carpet beetles can go by many names. They belong to the family of Coleoptera and can be referred to as skin beetles, larder beetles, khapra beetles, or hide and leather beetles. They are tiny in size and have black coloring with speckled or mottled patterns in a tan to yellowish color. As their name suggests, they can be found in carpets as they like to feed on items that are made with animal fibers such as wool, fur, silk, feathers, skins, and leather. However, they only feed on these items in their larvae stage. Once they are adults they will feed off of plant matter. Female carpet beetles lay their eggs near a larvae food source which can be anywhere from a closet, the carpeting, or in air ducts where pet hair accumulates. Once the eggs hatch the larvae have a tan to brownish color and are covered in bristly hairs. They are very slow moving and will molt as they turn into adults.
Are Carpet Beetles Destructive
When carpet beetles are in their larvae stage they can be very destructive as they consume a large amount of material especially when an infestation has occurred. Carpet beetle larvae will eat holes through clothing and are often mistaken for moths. They can eat holes through rugs and will even feast on taxidermy animals. Even though adult females only lay up to 100 eggs that number can increase quickly and because of their size they often go unnoticed until the destruction has already happened.
Signs You Have Carpet Beetles
Since adult beetles feed off of plant material these pests can easily enter homes as they can be carried in through indoor plants from a store or crawl their way in through cracks and crevices around windows or entryways where plants are close to the exterior of the home. Carpet beetles can also fly making it easier for them to enter a home. Furniture, clothing, and rugs that are brought into a home from another place of an infestation can also bring them in. If you do have carpet beetles in your home you will notice these things:
- Tiny beetles in lighted areas
- Slow climbing beetles near window sills or on walls
- Dead beetles near window sills
- Hairs falling out of furs
- Small holes in clothing or multiple holes close together
- Similar damage to blankets
- Thin areas of wool or wool blended rugs
- Shed larvae skins in closets or dark areas
- Shed larvae around or in stored animal fiber materials
How Do I Get Rid Of Carpet Beetles?
The step in getting rid of carpet beetles is finding out where they are coming from. The prefer dark spaces that don’t have a lot of traffic. Attic spaces or parts of a closet where items are stored are hot spots for the larvae. When looking through clothing pay attention to seams, folds and creases. If your looking over your carpet you will want to look along the edges by pulling it back slightly and for rugs you will want to look over the seams.
Once the nesting ground of carpet beetles is found items can be dry-cleaned, washed or thrown away. If they infestation is large, disposed items will need to be heavily bagged and sealed to prevent escape and further spreading. Hot laundering and dry-cleaning will kill carpet beetle eggs or larvae. You can always vaccum carpet and heating ducts to remove any larvae and eggs. Pay attention to the edging of carpet along the baseboards and areas where dust and pet hair collect.
Once these pests have been removed and all items are no longer infested you will want to store certain articles in air tight containers. Everything else will need to be protected by taking preventative measures from another infestation occurring. Sealing valuables that are not used regularly is an easy preventative measure. All stored items should be cleaned prior to storage. Some items like fur can be stored in cold vaults compared to cedar chests that are not air tight. Keeping a home clean from dust pilings and making sure to vacuum routinely will help you to avoid carpet beetles from becoming a problem in your living space.
If you are worried about carpet beetles infesting your home In the Vancouver Washington or Portland Oregon area or you suspect that you have an infestation, call your local pest control provider to come assess your situation. Pest control technicians have a keen eye for pests that homeowners can easily overlook.
