The most common carpet beetles in new zealand are the varied carpet beetle anthrenus verbasci and the black carpet beetle attagenus unicolor.
Carpet beetles eat wool.
Carpet beetles can actually eat any animal product that comes into its contact.
You may occasionally find carpet beetles in your pantry feeding on grains.
Adult beetles are 2 3 mm.
Carpet beetles can also thrive on lint hair and debris accumulating under baseboards and inside floor vents and ducts.
They love to eat away the material that carpets are made out of i e.
The beetles live outside but will come inside to lay their eggs on juicy looking carpet any time of the year.
Here s what you need to know.
These types of materials carpet beetles routinely feast on include wool felt leather silk fur and feathers.
If you ever see a very small black or tan bug on your clothing or closet walls it s probably a carpet beetle.
Carpet beetles congregate wherever animal fibers can be consumed.
They can also sometimes cause an allergic reaction.
Carpet beetles feed on organic materials such as animal and human hair plants and any materials made from animals such as wool silk leather and fur.
They hatch more quickly in warmer weather.
Woollen clothes insulation rugs and other items may be attacked and damaged.
Unlike wood beetles that only eat wood carpet beetles are notoriously known to feed on anything including cotton wool fibers foods and animal products.
Carpet beetles are found in almost every part of the world however they are basically european based.
These beetles typically produce four generations within a year.
The larvae of the carpet beetle will eat wool carpet and wool rugs can eat lots of it and will permanently damage the carpet.
So it may not be just your carpet that is damaged by these fibre eating pests.
The pests can also proliferate on bird nests animal carcasses and dead insects cluster flies lady beetles stink bugs wasps etc which tend to be associated with attics chimneys basements and light fixtures.
For example fur feathers wool silk leather and bed.
Carpet beetles are small pests that cause damage by eating your carpets clothing upholstery and just about anything that they come into contact with.
These beetles may also eat synthetic fabrics if they are soiled with food or oils.
We recommend you take action and begin carpet beetle control immediately.
Carpet beetle larvae eat fur feathers mohair wool and other soft natural fibers.
They may eat through your clothes rugs and furniture.
Synthetic carpet is not attacked or damaged by carpet beetle grubs.
Carpet beetles are sometimes described as tiny bugs in your closet as they re very small by nature and move very slowly.
Female carpet beetles lay around 100 soft white eggs in concealed places that hatch in eight to fifteen days.
