What attracts carpet beetles to your home? What are they and how can these pests be dealt with?
What causes you to get carpet beetles in cars and homes?
You’ll need to pay close attention as we discuss all carpet beetles and their modus operandi.
By the end, you should have a clear idea of how to go about keeping their activity under check.
Where Do Carpet Beetles Come From?
Why do I have carpet beetles?
If you’ve had to deal with fabric and carpet fiber damage, you may have seen carpet beetles. These are pests that cause all sorts of damage.
They can be found around clothing, near carpets, and other types of fabric materials. The beetles themselves aren’t responsible for damage caused; instead, their larvae are the culprits.
How Do You Get Carpet Beetles?
Every pest issue that starts in a home can be traced from the outdoors.
In other words, these pests gain entry into homes in many ways. The problem with most is that significant damage results from their actions.
Because carpet beetles feed on plant nectar and pollens, they easily get carried indoors when flowers are plucked. However, that’s only one way through which carpet beetles get into homes.
These insects are attracted to light. As such, your home’s lighting draws them in.
Even when your windows and doors are shut, carpet beetles can get in through tiny cracks or spaces around doors. You’ll need to have your doors and windows examined during treatment.
No matter how tiny they are, such openings can be used as entry points by carpet beetles.
The Real Culprits
A lot of times, people have misconceptions about carpet beetles.
Some people erroneously think adult beetles are responsible for damages caused. In reality, their larvae are responsible for such damage.
Carpet beetle larvae are worm-like creatures with hairs and are typically found around carpets or beneath them.
As indicated earlier, adult carpet beetles mostly feed on plant nectar and pollen.
For carpet beetle larvae, lint and dust is their main food source. This explains why carpet beetles are attracted to your carpets as well as fabrics.
Loads of dust and lint settle on carpets each day.
You’ll need to have such vacuumed frequently to deplete the food supply of carpet beetle larvae. Here, the infestation has a lot to do with sanitary practices and conditions.
A carpet that isn’t frequently vacuumed ultimately attracts these carpet beetle larvae.
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Other things Carpet Beetles find Attractive
Asides from dust and lint, carpet beetles are attracted to animal-based materials or products.
Such products include fur, bed, feathers, leather, silk, and wool. Improper or poor storage of these items usually attracts these beetle larvae that ruin them.
The secret is to have scents or odors removed before storage.
This can be achieved by dry cleaning such items or washing them in hot water. When dry, they must be properly stored in sealable bags or containers.
A zipper bag will be a great storage option to consider.
Types of Carpet Beetles
Although we’ve been discussing carpet beetles, we must get into more details by mentioning the types available. There are three main carpet beetle variants.
They include furniture carpet beetles, varied carpet beetles, as well as black carpet beetles.
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Furniture Carpet Beetles
Due to their love for keratin, furniture carpet beetles target furniture items made from animal hair, plant fibers, and feathers. Your carpets are definitely among the targeted items.
Their invasion is simply a survival strategy as food is involved. To safeguard your furniture, you’ll need to call for professional pest control.
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Varied Carpet Beetles
Varied carpet beetle fibers are quite common in homes and feed on a variety of items such as clothing, furniture, carpets, as well as natural fibers.
These are just a few of several other things targeted by varied carpet beetles. Their presence is a clear sign to act fast to safeguard your belongings.
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Black Carpet Beetles
Similar to other carpet beetle species, black carpet beetles also feed on wool, hair, silk, leather, and feathers. Your carpets are also in danger of getting destroyed.
You can also find black carpet beetles in kitchen cabinets. They have an appetite for dried meat and plants.
Carpet Beetles Cause no Harm to Humans But…
In terms of threat, carpet beetles pose none to humans. However, your furniture and other belongings can be ruined within a short time when urgent action isn’t taken.
Being extra vigilant is one effective way of dealing with the problem. It’s best to call for professional help when their presence is noticed.
Tracing the Causes
When it comes to the causes of carpet beetle presence, you need to look no further than your doors and windows. Even cracks on closed doors can be exploited by these pests.
Another easy way they come in is when you bring in infested items such as plants, furniture, or fur.
Once they get in, these pests immediately swing into action by targeting keratin-rich items around your home including your carpets. You may have to be more vigilant with what is brought indoors.
Being more careful goes a long way to prevent an infestation from breaking out.
Carpet Beetle Lifecycle
Because we’ve pointed to carpet beetle larvae as being responsible for most of the damage caused, we must consider their lifecycle.
Eggs are laid by an adult female from which larvae emerge in early summer to spring. Now, full larval development may take as much as 3 years to complete.
Larvae molt into pupae after a period of dormancy. With adverse weather conditions, the dormancy stage takes longer. These eventually molt into adult carpet beetles.
Getting Rid of Carpet Beetles
Several control actions can be taken when faced with a carpet beetle problem.
Asides from calling for professional help, other ways to get rid of the problem include washing affected fabrics with hot water and detergent.
Other areas that cannot be washed with water can be wiped down with alcohol. This serves to both kill and repels carpet beetles. You may also wish to try the freezing approach.
This helps kill carpet beetles by dropping temperatures significantly. What more?
Frequent vacuuming will help.
Now you know what carpet beetles are about and what causes them. With this knowledge, you should be able to adopt better control and prevention techniques.