Bowbugs aka carpet beetles like to work undisturbed.
Carpet beetles violin bow.
Bow bugs are dermestid beetles more commonly known as carpet beetles or skin beetles and are frequently not even noticed in a home until they crawl into a cello case and feast upon bow hair or climb into a clarinet case and feast upon the instrument s pads.
Moths are often blamed for damage done by carpet beetles.
Bow bugs are largely responsible for munching bow hair so if you ve pulled an old little used bow from a case in the attic and found that its hairs are loose or randomly broken you can guess that the bugs have been active.
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Richard ward of ifshin violins in berkeley california says he sees evidence of bow bugs almost every day in the shop.
Check inside your case for any carpet beetle larvae you will see these as small dark insect shells.
If you see them vacuum out your case as best you can and put some cedar.
Carpet beetles prefer dark environments.
A closed violin case with horsehair for food as more than adequate.
They re fairly common even in scrupulously clean homes and they love to eat bow hair as well as wool.
I have also heard that because the larvae much prefer the dark a bow that is used regularly is rarely attacked by them.
Also named bow mites and carpet beetles these bugs are common in homes.
It is important not to store your bow in an unopened case for long periods of time because bow bugs do best in dark enclosed places.
In the natural environment carpet beetles are known for feeding on the hair of dead animals or hair that has been shed from animals.
I ve seen no further sign of the dreaded carpet beetle larvae in my violin cases after doing this but i do see them from time to time in our pantry right along the edge of the ceiling.
Carpet beetles fail to distinguish between unnecessary hair shed from an animal and a valuable violin bow.
It is the larvae that do the damage to bow hair.
Carpet beetle larvae and eggs can be killed with mothballs that contain paradichlorobenzene pdb.
How often you use a fiddle is a factor too.
If you have carpet beetles frequent vacuuming with a strong vacuum cleaner can reduce the problem less food for the lil critters.
They will also eat real whalebone bow winding wool silk leather fur and other natural materials.
When the home in question has a violin case on the premises it s likely that the bow bug is going to find that case and move in.
