Carpet Beetle Larva
There are no uninteresting insects, only insects that are insufficiently magnified
S_ found this little larva while cleaning out a cupboard. It was in the back of the shelf, happily chowing down on a dead ant.
So far, it just looks like your typical little thing with lots of legs. Let’s zoom in a bit:
Ah, that’s better. Now we can see that it doesn’t actually have lots of legs, what it does have is a lot of bristles that stick almost straight out, or maybe angled a bit towards the head. There are also two tufts of bristles on the tail.
On the underside, we can see the actual legs, which aren’t really a lot longer than the bristles. It also has bristles on the bottom of the abdomen that give it an amusing, needs-a-shave sort of look. Note that, unlike butterfly and moth caterpillars, it does not have prolegs on the abdomen (beetle larvae do not have prolegs, only the six true legs). We can see the legs a bit better in the next picture, where it is trying to flip itself over:
At first, I thought that this was a larva of a larder beetle, like this one I posted a few months ago. But, looking at it more closely (particularly the tufts of bristles on the abdomen), I think its actually a carpet beetle, probably genus Anthrenus . I’ve been finding these Buffalo Carpet Beetles around the house, and so there is a good chance that this larva would have grown up to be one of them. Larder beetles and carpet beetles are all types of dermestid beetles, but while the larder beetle is more into stored foodstuffs, the carpet beetles are rather keen on animal proteins that are normally considered indigestible (hair, wool, feathers, skin, exoskeletons of other insects, that sort of thing).
Carpet beetles are evidently one of those species from arid or semi-arid regions that have moved into the house environment. They are adapted to a lack of water, and so can manage in spite of the dryness of the average house. Their original environment was apparently bird and mammal nests, where they ate the bits of debris that the inhabitants shed (and, in cases where the inhabitants died, ate what was left of their mummified corpses after the flies and carrion beetles were done with them. Once the dermestid beetles finish, they leave nothing behind but the polished bones of the animals’ dry, articulated skeletons)[1]. Basically, these beetles are still living in mammal nests, it’s just that these nests are now our houses instead of a hole in the ground with, say, a badger living in it.
As I mentioned in the larder beetle entry, the diet of dermestid beetles makes them real murder on things like insect collections, taxidermy, wool products, natural-fiber carpets, and museum specimens. They are also likely to be around regardless of how clean you keep your house. Even if the carpets are synthetic fibers, there are always bits of dead skin and hair, miscellaneous organic dirt, and the remains of insects that got in, couldn’t hack the indoors environment, and died. They’re in overlooked corners, under beds, in carpets, you name it. I even found one crawling across the ceiling in a very new house downstate which has only two people living in it and no pets, and is kept scrupulously clean. Seek and ye shall find, and all that. They are there, somewhere. Count on it.
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[1] A while back, we were doing some work on the walls in the house, and found a perfect mouse skeleton. Not a trace of hair, flesh, or skin, just a complete and undamaged skeleton still posed in its original owner’s final death throes. The dermestid beetles had obviously been at it.
Andy:
I like this one. Amazing larva photos for one thing. And a cool, ominous last paragraph.
One thing I’m wondering - are the bristles tough and spiky, or soft and flexible?
2 February 2008, 11:19 pmTim Eisele:
The bristles are kind of stiff. I saw one person claim that, in some species, when they feel threatened they puff up the two tufts on the tail to make themselves more irritating to eat (although this one didn’t do that).
Susannah:
I just discovered your blog. It’s been added to my blogroll.
This was a very informative post on carpet beetles. I have run across three or four in the last few years; when I identified the first, I declared war, and cleaned every bit of organic fiber I could find in the house. It was discouraging to find one again the next year, (and 2 this year; HALP!!! a 100% increase!!! .
Any websites I’ve found are all about eradication, and none about explaining the life of these critters. After reading your post, I feel better about them. (But I’ll still make sure all woolens are properly protected.)
Oh, and wonderful pics! I’ve tried, but need a better lens for such tiny beasties.
3 February 2008, 9:39 pmSusannah:
Just discovered something about this comment form. It doesn’t take jokey inserts, at least in the format I used.
That HALP!!!… bit in the previous comment was tongue-in-cheek.
3 February 2008, 9:41 pmTim Eisele:
Thanks! I guess there are two schools of thought about the idea that the carpet beetles are always around: (1) being creeped out, and (2) being resigned.
Actually, looking over your blog, you seem to do pretty well photographing these sorts of things.
Wanderin_Weeta:
Orr (3) being fascinated.
Thanks for the kind words about my photos. I am having a lot of fun with them.
5 February 2008, 7:25 amK T Cat:
Another great post! I love your stuff and threw you a link.
9 February 2008, 8:58 amSandy:
If you really want to find lots of these, follow these steps:
-Shoot a deer
-Have the butcher cut off the part of the skull with the antlers
-Leave “the trophy” in an unsealed plastic bag on your porch for a year or two
The good part is that they do all the cleaning for you.
18 February 2008, 1:21 pmTerrell Shaw:
Just wanted to let you know we linked to this article in the March issue of Learning in the Great Outdoors. Thanks!
http://aloneonalimb.blogspot.com/2008/03/learning-in-great-outdoors-10.html
3 March 2008, 11:50 pmCarpet Beetle HATER:
I think I am a clean person. I keep a tidy house, vacuum once a week, wash my floors once a week, wash my clothes and bedding once a week.
I have noticed a few carpet beetle larvae in my house (split level). Mostly upstairs, in my bedroom of all places. And a few in the living room.
After doing a few hours of internet research, I frantically tore my bedroom apart, and I was finding them in my dressers, closet floor, behind my bed, and in the corners. UGH! I immediately washed all the clothes (7 hours worth), took my mattress and box-spring to the dump. I vacuumed 4 times, the baseboards and floor, shampooed the carpet, sprayed carpet beetle bug spray, then headed to the furniture store and bought a new bedset and mattress set. My old bedset was a waterbed frame. I will never again have a bedset I can’t see under!
Next day I started on the living room, thankfully I have laminate flooring. I only found a couple larvae on the floor, BUT…… I saw one come out of the loveseat!!! I took the living room furniture to the dump, vacuumed 4 times, washed the floor, sprayed bug spray, and once again headed to the furniture store.
It took 3 straight days of cleaning and laundering - 12 hours each day, 24 loads of laundry, and $3,000 in new furniture. And countless clothing and blankets thrown away. I may have gone a little over board, but I can’t stand the thought of those things crawling around. I looked at one with a magnifying glass - they are GROSS!
And to know that they lay up to 90 eggs in 10 - 25 days, and that the larvae cycle is 180 - 620 days (depending on the carpet beetle type), who knows how many tens of thousands could be lurking behind the baseboards or other areas I can’t get to. The only good part is that the adult beetle lives only 2 - 6 weeks (again depending on the type).
I still found 1 yesterday, and 1 today. Today I will start the process all over again - downstairs.
All in all, I feel much better and believe I can get rid of them. But maybe not forever. I have 2 dogs and a cat (who happen to sleep in my bedroom). These little bugs are hitchhikers, much like the centipede (didn’t need that on top of all this!) that hitched a ride in on my black lab the other morning.
7 July 2008, 3:08 pmJulie Baker:
Has anyone had extensive damage to their clothing? My clothes feel like they have dust in them. My satins have snags and areas that look thinner and eaten away. There are yellowish and orange stains in many things that won’t come out. When I launder them (hot wash & dry) they get massive amounts of snags and lint balls. It also seems like they don’t all come out in the laundry. I have started keeping the stuff that’s not ruined in lock tight containers. Also wondering if anyone is allergic to them(I believe I am) and what do you do for it? I’ve found adult varied carpet beetles and darker colored ones maybe a black? I find little orange colored things on my bed, in my clothes, as well as blackish c shaped hard things, tiny stiff hairs, off white waxy balls and hard white salt like debris. All of these things burn my skin when it comes into contact. It often leaves open areas and itchy rashes. They get in my hair and burn my scalp. I have to go through it with lice combs and thoroughly wash every night. My sleep is disturbed as I feel like things are crawling on me. I have sprayed tempo all over the place. I think they may be in the foam that’s in my mattress. My vinyl covers have chew like holes in them. I have a dog & cat and I find the same debris in their shed fur. I have vaccummed our hardwood floors with the crevice tool and flashlight, anally getting every hair. Two days later it’s back just as bad. How do you keep clean laundry from getting reinfested when you can only fit so much in and these things are all over? Is there a way to “bugproof one room at a time once it’s clean? I can’t sit on any fabric furniture,They have even infested my vehicle wrecking the upholstery. I sit on a piece of plastic to drive. In the house I have to carefully wash a hard plastic chair to make sure no debris is on it, and that’s all I can sit on. I don’t know if they crawl or float through the air.I can’t use towels so have to blow dry myself after a shower. I’m at my wits end. You may publish my email so if anyone has advice or has had a similar experience they can write me. Thank you.
27 July 2008, 1:55 amTim Eisele:
Since Julie Baker asked me to publish her email so that people can send advice, it is bigsue@i29.net
I don’t know what her environment is like, or exactly what the damage looks like, but I suspect that carpet beetles are not the primary cause of her problem. As far as I know, carpet beetles mainly eat things like wool, poorly-tanned leather, bits of other insects, skin flakes, and hair. They evidently aren’t keen on plant fibers (which are mostly cellulose), so I wouldn’t expect them to bother satin, linen, or cotton very much (if at all). They certainly shouldn’t be chewing holes in vinyl, or bothering synthetic fabrics. I’d be inclined to think that the main problem in Julie Baker’s case would be some combination of fungus and dust mites. Maybe carpet beetles are present to eat the bodies of the dust mites, but I wouldn’t think they’d be directly causing this level of damage themselves. Also, dust mites and fungus have much more of a reputation for causing allergic reactions than carpet beetles do. If the humidity level is high, this would tend to promote fungus growth and make it possible for dust mites to thrive. Maybe trying to reduce the humidity would help.
Kristie E:
They certainly do eat plant fibers. I have just spent $4,000 getting rid of these things. They were in my dirty laundry bins, eating the food stains on my kids’ cotton t-shirts. I threw away 30-40 t-shirts (I have three boys) as well as three of my husbands wool suits, and more. I was at my wit’s end until I figured out what was going on.
I had exterminators come and spray cracks and crevices and I laundered absolutely everything in my house, took my three wool rugs to be cleaned and pest treated ($200 each) and 75 items to the dry cleaners. It was hell. Expensive hell. It seemed to have taken care of it. We treated in April, it is now August. But I found two yesterday. Bug guys coming back tomorrow. I think I brought them back in on a new wool rug. I can’t believe how awful this is, AND that no one else knows what I’m talking about. The first pest control company just sprayed my carpet. The next one knew their stuff. Interview your pest control company and make sure they have a specialist. And I live in GEORGIA! This is the bug capital of the WORLD!
Good luck.
7 August 2008, 6:40 amTamie:
This spring I started finding tiny beetles crawling on my carpet in every room of the house. My daughter and I had been finding holes eaten in our clothing (mostly undergarments and pajamas) for several months. After looking at these bugs with a magnifying glass I identified them as carpet beetles. After a few weeks, I stopped seeing the live beetles and now I have tiny black “specks” all over the carpet, things that look like old beetle parts and skins, but most troubling is now our undergarments, pjs, blankets, towels etc. are covered in “lint” and “picked” spots to the point that they are ruined. Does anyone know what is the cause of the lint and picks? Help!
28 August 2008, 8:21 amMr. Romero:
I Have genus anthrenus in my house , How can I get ride of them?
3 October 2008, 8:27 pmCan any body help me?