Is It Dangerous To Have Carpet Beetles In Your Hartford Home?

There are few pests that are as confusing to deal with as carpet beetles. If you're not familiar with a few important facts about these insects, you're not going to understand the threat they present. Here's what you need to know.

Carpet Beetles Don't Bite

If you wake up with lots of red bumps and a rash, you may be tempted to think that you're being bitten by something. This can happen when carpet beetles get into your home because the hairs on carpet beetle larvae can cause you to have an allergic reaction. This bumpy rash has led many people to think that they have a bed bug infestation. If you've detected carpet beetles in your home, and you wake up with a rash, you can take comfort in knowing that you don't have bed bugs. But don't take too much comfort. Carpet beetle rashes can be itchy and irritating, and carpet beetle larvae can be destructive to your property.

Carpet Beetles Are Not Known To Spread Disease

If you're being inflicted with bumpy rashes, you can take some solace in knowing that carpet beetles are not known to spread diseases. This is especially important to keep in mind when you find carpet beetles in your pantry. 

Carpet Beetles Aren't Much To Look At

Detecting carpet beetles is easy if you know what you're looking for. If you don't know what you're looking for, you can easily miss the early warning sign of a carpet beetle infestation.

When you find a tiny insect crawling across the floor of your bathroom, do you get right down there and examine that insect closely? If you don't, you're likely to miss a carpet beetle infestation. These beetles are really small. An adult carpet beetle is only about 2 to 3 mm long. You won't think too much of a little carpet beetle making a journey across your bathroom floor.

If you inspect a carpet beetle, you need good eyes. While carpet beetles can have a distinctly mottled white, brown, and black coloration, you're going to be hard-pressed to see that pattern on an insect that is 2 mm long. Keep this in mind. The images on the internet are magnified significantly.

Carpet Beetles Don't Feed On Your Carpets

Adult carpet beetles, the insects that are actually beetles, don't damage your belongings. It is their worm-like larvae that do the damage. The adults feed on pollen. So, squishing a carpet beetle and going on with your day won't address your infestation. It will only get rid of the warning sign. When you detect a carpet beetle in your home, it is important to take action and contact a pest management professional to perform appropriate treatments to address the larvae that are likely to be hidden in the room you found that carpet beetle crawling around in.

What Carpet Beetle Larvae Eat

• If you have carpet beetles in your bed, you probably have a food source in your bed, such as silk sheets, a wool blanket, or some other bedding that has natural fibers. Laundering these items can help to address an infestation.

• If you have carpet beetles in your closet or in a dresser drawer, larvae are probably feeding on clothing items that have natural fibers. This can cause your clothes to develop holes.

• If you have carpet beetles in your pantry, eggs or larvae are probably in food items such as grains and spices. There are a few pantry items that carpet beetle larvae can feed on.

• If you have carpet beetles in a storage room or attic space, there are many things they could be feeding on. Some might surprise you. An infestation of carpet beetles can be due to dead rodents in your home. They'll feed on any natural animal fiber.

What To Do About Carpet Beetles

When you find even one carpet beetle inside your Hartford home, contact American Pest Solutions. We can help you determine the threat and help you get control of those carpet beetles by applying appropriate pest control measures in your home. Reach out to us anytime. Don't let these tiny insects and their destructive larvae damage your belongings and get into your food. Deal with them early with a little help from the friendly pest professionals here at American Pest Solutions.