In the UK, the most common species are the varied carpet beetle and the furniture carpet beetle. Both species are about 2-4mm in size and have a varied pattern of white, brown and yellow spots or scales on their back. Their larvae are commonly called “woolly bears” and are approximately 4-5mm in size, with a series of dense tufts or bristles located on each side at the rear end of the body giving rise to their ‘fluffy’ name.
The Lifecycle
A female carpet beetle normally lays around 40 eggs. These usually hatch after a couple of weeks. The larvae (woolly bears) will live for a period of 7-10 months, feeding almost continuously. The larvae then turn to pupa and an adult beetle will emerge about one month later. The adults normally only live for a period of 2-6 weeks. From here the life cycle repeats itself and problems very quickly spread.
Preventing and treating carpet beetle infestations
Small infestations can be dealt with using a combination of vacuuming, cleaning and general-purpose crawling insect sprays or powders (available in chemists, garden centres etc). However, these insects will wander, which can mean wide areas can become infested when feeding on decomposing food matter and faeces.
Preventing and treating carpet beetle infestations
Ideally, you should try and trace the source of the infestation. This could be an old bird or squirrel nest (in the loft for example), dead animal remains, old wool-based lagging or debris beneath and between floor boards.
Should vacuuming and cleaning fail to address the problem, then we can help.
