Carpet beetles can eat fabrics cotton, linen ,rayon and some food that they prefer. They spoil our carpets as well as clothes. Female carpet beetles lay almost 100 eggs on their food. So prevention and destroying living beetles becomes more important.There are four types of carpet beetles available. They can even fly.
Black carpet beetles – They can widespread and eats dead animals materials,fur, hair, woollen products, plant material and damages clothes.
Varied carpet beetles – Similar to black carpet beetles but smaller in size than the previous.
Common carpet beetles – They are round, black or yellow bugs and feed on carpet, fur, silk, weathers and woollen.
Furniture carpet beetles -This type resides on furniture and feed on hair, padding and feathers.
Larvae of carpet beetles
Larvae of carpet beetles are seen under baseboards, under the edges of carpet, around door casings and in upholstered furnitures. Removing larvae from the places eradicate future beetles.
How to find larvae – We can use a good flashlight or knife, nail fail, small spatula to find larvae in the carpet. Carpet beetles feed in dark, secluded areas like closets, in between walls, basements, drawers, insulation, attics and storage boxes. Even places under carpets and rugs. To find the source of infestation is important to get rid of carpet beetles.
Remedies
- Vacuum cleaner
- Laundry detergent
- Washing machine
- Steam cleaner
- Insecticides
- Plastic containers or bags
- Glue traps
- Cedar chips or mothballs.
Methods
Vacuuming and washing
Regular vacuuming and laundering of carpets, linens and furniture prevent carpet beetles. Washing with warm water and frequent inspection of home to find their presence would help to prevent them. We also have to vacuum other fabric covered areas or upholstered furnitures which cannot be washed in machines.
Sprayer
We can use specifically labeled sprayer for carpet bugs in the areas affected and also in their entry points. Carpet treatment that contains chlorpyrifos, bendiocarb, allethrin are recommended for carpet beetles. Spraying a liquid insecticide around the home and in the lower portion of the foundation also helps in preventing beetles. We can even spray it in all potential entry points.
Destroy affected clothes
We should destroy infected clothes. They may increase the infection.
Boric acid – Spreading Boric acid around furniture and fabric kills the living beetles larvae and also prevent from new infestation. It has low toxic effect, which is not harmful to humans and kills beetles when it’s attached and ingested by them.
Mothballs or cedar chips
We can pack and close our clothes with moth balls which prevents beetles.We can keep our seasonal clothes in plastic container where beetles cannot penetrate and also use mothballs and cedar chips inside it. We can expose our drawers with clothes to sunlight often as beetles scatter when exposed to sunlight.
Borax or Boric Acid
We can use borax or boric acid powders which can kill any insect that comes in contact with it. Carpet beetles are also killed by this powder. Though it is not harmful for humans, use it to bleaches our clothes. Boric acid is a naturally occurring compound that can be mined.
Prevention steps
- Carpet beetles resides on flowers and plants too .Before bringing them for using inside house inspect for any harmful bugs.
- Closing doors and windows without screen will prevent their entry. If we find any hole in window or screen it is better we repair as soon as possible to prevent the entry of beetles.
- By removing the nests of other birds near our home will also help prevention of beetles as they reside on them.
- Set traps – We can place hormone based glue traps around crevices, cracks, and other locations where they originate. These traps kills the insects.
- We can choose synthetics for furniture, carpets, rugs and interior fabrics on our purchase. It is better to choose synthetic material rather than using organic materials, since beetles eat them.
- Rodents at home are also a helpers of beetles. We can keep trap for rodents but poisoning it also supports beetles to reside.
