Varied Carpet Beetle
Are your clothes being eaten? Got holes in your carpets? Seeing transparent skins and powdery dust like droppings on your carpets? You may be suffering from an infestation of Varied Carpet Beetle.
The Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) is a common house and museum pest.
The Varied Carpet Beetle is small in size (around 1.5 – 3.5m) with a round body which is white and golden yellow in colour with black, white and orange scales and black legs.
The larvae are called “woolly bears” and this is due to their bodies being covered in hairs. It is the woolly bears which cause the damage to textiles as they are voracious feeders and they can cause significant damage to natural fibres in particular woollens.
The Varied Carpet Beetle can also be found in stored food products and they are the only British species of the Anthrenus to do this.
How to prevent the varied carpet beetle
Prevention is advisable as once an infestation takes hold this can cause significant damage by the time it has been identified.
Adopting good hygiene and cleaning is important as larvae can thrive out of sight and undisturbed.
For example behind skirting boards, in the pile of woollen carpets (particularly close to skirting boards), in fibres and other organic dust between floor boards, and near spiders' webs, feeding on dead insects.
Regular hoovering is advisable. They can also be destroyed by applications of proprietary insecticides orby freezing in bags in a deep freezer (at -18 °C) for 1-2 days.
Because birds' nests in roofs can act as important sources of infestations, these are best removed and destroyed. Cavities attractive to nesting birds should be blocked, eg by wire wool.
Woollens and other natural fibres should be cleaned and stored properly using securely fastened plastic or polythene bags.
As an infestation of Varied Carpet Beetle can be very difficult to control, it is important to call in a professional pest controller who will have access to solutions not available to the general public.
If you need help with varied carpet beetle call our friendly pest control team today.
How to spot a Varied Carpet Beetle⬇
If you need pest control in Herefordshore or Worcestershire, give PGM & SON a call. We know how clear communication strengthens pest control efforts, so if you have pests, we have it covered!
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