# Carpet beetle

*Anthrenus spp. / Attagenus spp.*

**Identification confidence:** Identifiable with care — Carpet beetle larvae are frequently mistaken for bed bugs, and the distinction changes the answer completely.


## How to recognise it

- Adults are small, rounded, almost domed beetles 2 to 5 mm, mottled in black, white, and orange scales, or uniformly black depending on species.
- Larvae are elongated, carrot-shaped, and densely covered in stiff bristles, often with a tuft of longer hairs at the rear — bed bugs are flat, oval, and hairless, which is the decisive difference.
- Larvae leave behind shed skins that retain the bristly shape, unlike the smooth flat husks bed bugs leave.

## What it leaves behind

- Irregular grazed damage to wool, silk, feathers, and animal-based materials, often under furniture and along carpet edges.
- Bristly shed skins accumulating in undisturbed areas, in air vents, and beneath heavy furniture.
- Adults found at windowsills, since they fly toward light.

## Why an infestation persists

Larvae feed on keratin — wool, silk, feathers, hair, and dried animal matter — while adults feed on pollen outdoors and enter through open windows or on cut flowers. Damage is done entirely by the larvae, so finding adults at a window is a signal to look for larvae elsewhere.


## Where it occurs

Throughout the United States.

## What prevents it

- Vacuum thoroughly along carpet edges, beneath heavy furniture, and in air vents, which is where larvae concentrate.
- Store wool, silk, and fur items cleaned and sealed, since soiled fabric is far more attractive.
- Check for and remove bird or rodent nests in voids, which are a common larval food source.
- Screen windows and check cut flowers brought indoors.

## Commonly confused with

- **Bed bug** (*Cimex lectularius*) — Adults are 4 to 5 mm, roughly the size and shape of an apple seed — flat and oval when unfed, swollen and elongated to nearly cylindrical after feeding.

**Verdict:** prevention-first. Thorough vacuuming and proper storage of animal-fibre materials address carpet beetles directly.

Source: https://againstpest.shop/identify/pantry-and-fabric/carpet-beetle/