Some pest problems prove, more than others, why only professional solutions can truly protect your property. Carpet beetles are this kind of pest since these damaging bugs can wreak havoc on your household materials, and their populations can be nearly impossible to control. Learn how to stay up on proper prevention and what to do if an infestation is spotted in your Hartford home.
What Are Carpet Beetles?
Carpet beetles are common home-invading pests but most people don’t know that it’s the carpet beetle’s offspring -- their larvae -- that do all the property damage. Adult beetles feed on pollen and can easily be spotted flying about. But in order for their hidden young ones to grow into mature beetles, the babies must gorge themselves on fibers found in wool, fur, hair, and fabric blends. That means they will chew through household materials, including furniture, curtains, clothes, and carpeting. Here’s how to spot a carpet beetle in any stage of its life:
- Egg: Carpet beetle eggs are off-white or cream-colored, often spotted in the folds of curtains and jackets or in dark corners of a property.
- Larvae: Depending on how much they’ve grown, larvae can range in size and appearance. They are generally grub-like insects that stick to dark areas.
- Adult: Mature beetles look like ugly ladybugs, with hard shells that cover their clear wings. They are round with gray and black or brown markings on their topsides.
How Do Infestations Start?
Since adult carpet beetles can crawl and fly, they can enter a home in a number of different ways. Once inside, they quickly look to mate and find safe areas to lay their eggs -- spots where fibrous food sources will be a short crawl away. Here are the most common points of entry for carpet beetles:
- Cracks & holes: For tiny bugs, the smallest crack or hole in the exterior of a structure can act as a gaping threshold to the inside.
- Windows: Carpet beetles can fly in through open windows or crawl in through tears or holes in screens.
- Doors: Any time a door opens and closes, it can suck in flying bugs from outside, providing an air current that makes it easy for pests to get inside. Wide openings underneath door panels provide an easy crawl-in, too.
Carpet Beetle Prevention Tips
Because they exhibit such different traits depending on what stage of development they are in, carpet beetle infestations can be an absolute nightmare to deal with. The best course of action you can take is to regularly inspect your property for their signs, and do all of the following to make an infestation less likely:
- Crack-sealing: When looking for potential access points around the outside of a building, make repairs with caulk or sealant where necessary.
- Window screens: Proper screen installation and maintenance can help keep bugs of all kinds out, including carpet beetles.
- Door sweeps: Installing these on the undersides of doors, as well as weather stripping around the edges to reduce gaps, will help reduce these common access points for bugs.
American Pest Solutions Is Here To Help
While proper prevention can put you a step ahead of an infestation, even clean and well-maintained properties can find themselves with a pest infestation. If carpet beetles move in, it’s important to turn to the pros. At American Pest Solutions, we know how to completely eradicate carpet beetles and their damaging offspring. Even if you just want a routine inspection of your property to determine your level of risk or if the signs of an infestation are there, we’ve got you covered.
Don’t let carpet beetles turn your property into a feeding ground, contact American Pest Solutions today.