Bugs That Eat Your Carpet

Carpet beetles don t usually eat cotton linen or other plant based or synthetic fabrics but they may eat fabric blends or fabrics stained with animal products.

Bugs that eat your carpet.

There are three types of carpet beetles the varied carpet beetles the black carpet beetles and the furniture carpet beetle. The eggs hatch in eight to 15 days and hatch more quickly in warmer weather. Their larvae are reddish brown and covered in fine hairs. Others such as fleas can lay 2 000 eggs weekly.

Woollen clothes insulation rugs and other items may be attacked and damaged. These beetles have black white red and orange scales. Carpet beetle larvae eat fur feathers mohair wool and other soft natural fibers. Carpet beetle the most common carpet beetles in new zealand are the varied carpet beetle anthrenus verbasci and the black carpet beetle attagenus unicolor.

Why they like carpet adult carpet beetles don t eat carpet or upholstery as they prefer pollen and nectar from outdoor flowers. The female beetles lay soft white eggs in concealed places on clothing furniture cracks in flooring and carpet. While getting rid of carpet beetles can be a challenge it s definitely doable on your own. When a bug takes shelter inside a carpet it causes an infestation.

A thorough cleaning of the carpet can leave you with a bug free home. If you ever see a very small black or tan bug on your clothing or closet walls it s probably a carpet beetle. They range in size from 0 3 cm to 0 4 cm. They tend to live inside fabric furniture or deep inside carpets so look for damage to area rugs around the edges and to carpets along base boards.

Carpet beetles have a recognisable oval body with a shiny dark brown black colouring though their wings tend to vary with irregular patterns of white brown and dark yellow. Some female bugs such as bed bugs lay up to five eggs daily. Bugs living in carpets cause skin irritations such as itching and breakouts. So it may not be just your carpet that is damaged by these fibre eating pests.

As the carpet beetle grows its diet changes it starts consuming pollen and nectar from plants. The carpet beetles never bite or destroy anything it is their young ones you should blame. Carpet beetles are persistent pests that can eat away at your carpets clothing and other fabrics. Carpet beetles like to live out of sight and feed on the natural fibers in fabrics even living off carpet fibers that are 90 percent synthetic.