Furniture Carpet Beetle
General Description
- Adults are small, rounded, and blackish, with a mottling of yellow
and white scales on the back and a heavy coating of yellow scales
on the femur of the legs. The color pattern varies from yellow to white scales.
Life Cycle and Common Characteristics
- Females lay a total of 35 to 100 eggs in one to three batches.
- Eggs hatch in three weeks.
- Larvae then develop through 6-12 molts over a period of 3-6 months.
- Larvae are oval-shaped, somewhat elongated, and thickly covered with brownish hairs.
- The pupa is white and develops in the last larval skin.
- The pupal stage lasts from 14 to 19 days.
- The adult remains in the pupal skin for one to 10 weeks before becoming
Damage and Economic and Health Implications
- Furniture carpet beetles attack upholstered furniture, where they feed any suitable food source (hair, padding, feathers and woollen items).
- They also feed on other woollens, carpets, fur, bristles, horns, silk, and also feed.
- Individuals in close association with infested items may suffer allergic reactions as a result of exposure to beetle fragments, cast skins, or dusts.
