Can you identify these bugs?
November 7, 2016 3:52 AM   Subscribe

I found these bugs hiding in an old blanket under a bed. There were a few bugs on the bed, too.

We live in an old building in Berlin with hardwood floors. A few months ago we discovered that some of our old wooden furniture was infested with wood-eating bugs, but we simply removed the furniture and didn't do any extermination throughout the apartment and we never got a good look at the bugs. My hunch is that these bugs are from our old furniture, but I discovered the blanket in a different room, so maybe they are different. Any ideas?
posted by amb to Home & Garden (4 answers total)
 
Best answer: Almost certainly carpet beetle larvae, aka 'wooly bears'. They're quite fond of any sort of natural-fibre fabric, especially when it's been left undisturbed.

As long as you wash the blanket (or throw it away if it's not worth saving) and vacuum the floors semi-regularly, you'll be pretty much in control of them.

The beetles, when they emerge, are little brownish fellas with a checked pattern.

These are definitely not something that will bite you or take over your home. We find a few in our bedroom each year - I suspect that they're coming in from some house martin nests along our roof. They're most active around this time of year, so now's the time to have a good clear before they settle in to hibernate.
posted by pipeski at 4:25 AM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks, pipeski. I think you are probably correct.
posted by amb at 4:43 AM on November 7, 2016


On a pretty unrelated note, just wanted to say that i found those photos very beautiful.
posted by speakeasy at 8:01 AM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


Response by poster: I certainly wasn't aiming for beauty when I took the photos, but I'm glad you liked them.
posted by amb at 1:16 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


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