Common carpet beetle (adult)

Homes, museums, warehouses, and outdoor areas with flowering plants. Adults often occur on windowsills and walls.

Adults feed mainly on flower pollen and nectar. Larvae consume keratin-rich materials such as wool, fur, feathers, hair, and dead insects.

Adults are small, rounded, and mottled; larvae are hairy and avoid light. They reproduce indoors in hidden, undisturbed sites, and larval infestations can persist for months or years.

Larvae can damage carpets, clothing, upholstery, taxidermy, and stored specimens; the hairs may irritate sensitive skin. Adults pollinate flowers, and larvae help recycle animal-derived organic matter.