Like most beetles black carpet beetles have wings and they can fly.
Black carpet beetle larvae uk.
To know where to focus the brunt of your cleaning first look for the primary source of the infestation which will be the area with the most signs of damage and beetles.
As is so often the case it is the larva that does all the damage.
These are mostly brown with white or yellow markings and are covered in short bristly hairs hence their well known woolly bear moniker.
Larvae young carpet beetles are 1 8 to 1 4 inch long and tan or brownish.
Female black carpet beetles can lay up to 100 eggs and their larvae can stay in the larval stage for up to 3 years.
They range in color from black to speckled with white brown yellow and orange.
The larva is elongated and furry also called woolly bears.
Colour wise it has a palette similar to the furniture carpet beetle.
The black carpet beetle attagenus unicolor is a 3 5 millimetre long 0 12 0 20 in beetle that can be a serious household pest the larvae grow to 7 mm 0 28 in in length are reddish brown in colour and covered with bristles.
Check more about the common uk types of carpet beetles in the uk.
The larval form feeds on natural fibres damaging carpets furniture and clothing.
Carpet beetle larvae image.
Carpet beetles are oval shaped and difficult to spot as they are only 2 to 4mm long.
Both adult carpet beetles and larvae can infest your home but the larvae do the most damage by eating organic materials like wool leather and silk.
The furniture carpet beetle has 6 legs as well and is often mistaken for its cousin the varied carpet beetle.
Larvae can survive for several weeks without food.
The colour of the body is a mixture of white light and dark brown spots and older specimen might even have grey ish colour.
Eggs larvae the life cycle of the carpet beetle begins when an adult female lays her eggs carpet beetles can lay their eggs indoors although they may also infest the nests of birds mice and other insects after mating near sources of light females can lay more than 100 eggs at a time which will hatch into larvae within seven to 35 days.
Appearance the size of an adult varied carpet beetle a.
Varied carpet beetles anthrenus verbasci only a quarter of a centimeter long the varied carpet beetle is the smallest of the three with only 6 legs.
The shape of the body is almost spherical.
Although not always a pure black color they are generally dark brown to black and may have lighter patterns on their elytra.
They re covered with bristles.
These are the smallest of the carpet beetles measuring in at around 0 25cm.