Carpet beetles or fur Beetles

Carpet beetles (anthrenus spp) are 3mm long and fur beetles (attagenus spp) are 5mm.

Colour

Carpet beetle - dark brown or black mottled with patches of yellow or white

Fur beetle - black with a white spot on either side of back.

Occurrence

Adults live outdoors on plants. Larvae (maggots) live indoors and often in bird nests.

Habits

Adult carpet beetles seek light so stay out of doors from the end of March until June. They lay eggs indoors. The larvae (grubs) known as 'woolly bears' avoid light and are found in dark, undisturbed places. Their full life cycle is about a year. They get into homes via the loft from bird nests in the eaves. Larvae will first attack the insulation in the roof space and spread down pipes into the cylinder cupboard, etc. Little is known of the fur beetle, but its life cycle and habits are similar to the carpet beetle.

Food

Adults feed on flowers but larvae feed on materials of animal origin such as woollen goods and may inflict severe damage to fitted carpets, stored clothes etc.

Control

Remove bird nests from roof spaces and eaves if they are present. If lagging is infested, remove it and burn it with the old bird nests. Vulnerable areas of fitted carpets, such as by skirting boards, should be vacuumed with a nozzle cleaner. We provide a pest control service for carpet and fur Beetles for a charge.

If you would like us to help, please telephone us on 01329 236100 or email regulatory@fareham.gov.uk