Carpet Beetle

Indoors within carpets, upholstered furniture, clothing, baseboards, air ducts, as well as outdoors in bird nests and on flowering plants.

Larvae feed on animal-based organic materials such as wool, fur, feathers, leather, dead insects, and hair; adults feed on flower pollen and nectar.

Adults are attracted to light and often found near windows. Larvae avoid light, moving slowly through fibrous materials and sheds larval skins as they grow.

Larvae can damage natural fiber fabrics, carpets, clothing, and taxidermy. Shed larval hairs can cause allergic reactions or skin irritation (carpet beetle dermatitis) in sensitive individuals. They do not bite humans.