Woolly Bear Carpet Beetle

In the uk carpet beetles and clothes moths are the biggest threat to our textiles.

Woolly bear carpet beetle.

We again have found some carpet beetle larvae in the cupboard under the stairs. They re fairly inconspicuous and if you do find one they look a little like a hairy maggot. It is not actually the moths which cause the damage but instead their larvae which feed on wool and natural fibres. The related fur beetle is black with one spot on each wing case and there is a rarer black carpet beetle.

Carpet beetle larvae aka woolly bears don t be fooled by the cuddly name 11 posts add message report. Carpet beetles and wooly bears all categories clothes and carpet moths. Tamashii wed 15 sep 10 12 08 37. A nasty shock awaited this customer on moving their sofa a carpet destroyed by carpet moths.

The larvae known as woolly bears of these small oval beetles have outstripped the clothes moths as the major british textile pest. The larvae of carpet beetles are small only growing to about 7mm at most. These are mostly brown with white or yellow markings and are covered in short bristly hairs hence their well known woolly bear moniker. Confusingly the carpet beetle larvae are called woolly bears.

As they grow they moult and the old cast off skins may be the first. These small oval beetles have outstripped the clothes moths as the major british textile pest. As is so often the case it is the larva that does all the damage. Last week one of our technicians recorded some amazing footage of a carpet beetle larvae often called a woolly bear.

That is also a common name for the caterpillar of the garden tiger moth arctia caja. The larvae are small about 4mm long covered in brown hairs and tend to roll up when disturbed. The varied carpet beetle anthrenus verbasci is a 3 mm long beetle belonging to the family dermestidae they are a common species often considered a pest of domestic houses and particularly natural history museums where the larvae may damage natural fibers and can damage carpets furniture clothing and insect collections. The small hairy larvae of the carpet or fur beetles are known as woolly bears.

To see that footage click here. Verbasci was also the first insect to be shown to have an. Carpet beetles are oval shaped and difficult to spot as they are only 2 to 4mm long. Carpet moth treatment suffolk.