Are these carpet beetles and if so how do we get rid of them?
February 11, 2018 5:58 PM Subscribe
A couple of days ago, while I was cleaning out my sock and underwear drawer. . .
A couple of days ago, while I was cleaning out my sock and underwear drawer, I discovered little dead bugs (or the shells of them, not sure which) in the bottom of the drawer. Photo here.
They were approx 3/32" (3mm) long. After a bit of searching, we deduced they were carpet beetles. We have cleaned out the drawer and put all the items in a plastic trash bag, and will be washing everything.
Does anyone have experience dealing with such beetles? What steps should we take to get rid of them? If the answer is "exterminator" any advice with regard to choosing one is welcome.
Also, what do we need to do to the drawer itself? The other drawers do not have any bugs in them. This is part of a large wall unit, not a typical dresser.
We consulted the two previous Ask questions on carpet beetles but they were not helpful in answering our question.
A couple of days ago, while I was cleaning out my sock and underwear drawer, I discovered little dead bugs (or the shells of them, not sure which) in the bottom of the drawer. Photo here.
They were approx 3/32" (3mm) long. After a bit of searching, we deduced they were carpet beetles. We have cleaned out the drawer and put all the items in a plastic trash bag, and will be washing everything.
Does anyone have experience dealing with such beetles? What steps should we take to get rid of them? If the answer is "exterminator" any advice with regard to choosing one is welcome.
Also, what do we need to do to the drawer itself? The other drawers do not have any bugs in them. This is part of a large wall unit, not a typical dresser.
We consulted the two previous Ask questions on carpet beetles but they were not helpful in answering our question.
Those do look like the larval stage of a carpet beetle. They are difficult/extremely difficult to get rid of, depending on the severity of the infestation. We have been battling them in our house for 4-5 years. I found them one Spring in/on a wool blanket my grandmother had crocheted. Over the next couple of months I was finding them everywhere, and we had an exterminator spray our house every couple of months for a while. Every year we find fewer and fewer adults, but we still find them. The exterminator told me that the best thing I could do to minimize them was to clean and vacuum religiously, especially in dark and hidden crevices, along baseboards, under the bed, etc. They really like to eat pet hair (I've got two cats and am not the best housekeeper) and other protein fibers like wool and silk. (I'm a knitter too, and I took measures to protect my yarn stash).
I would wipe down the drawer itself with rubbing alcohol and make sure everything in the drawers gets washed. Check your closets, especially your woolens, sweaters, hats, blazers/suits, under the lapels and in the pockets. Try to keep on top of vacuuming from here on out. Maybe get someone to spray, especially if you do find evidence of them in multiple locations in your house.
posted by fancyoats at 6:35 PM on February 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would wipe down the drawer itself with rubbing alcohol and make sure everything in the drawers gets washed. Check your closets, especially your woolens, sweaters, hats, blazers/suits, under the lapels and in the pockets. Try to keep on top of vacuuming from here on out. Maybe get someone to spray, especially if you do find evidence of them in multiple locations in your house.
posted by fancyoats at 6:35 PM on February 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Those do look like the larval stage of a carpet beetle
Um... I guess I'd better check my closets.
posted by yohko at 7:08 PM on February 11, 2018
Um... I guess I'd better check my closets.
posted by yohko at 7:08 PM on February 11, 2018
On the other hand, I see the odd carpet beetle here and there in lots of different places I’ve lived, and they never caused any problems at all. For all you know those putative carpet beetle pupae* have been sitting dead for months and you have no real issue to manage.
Personally I’d do nothing but keep my eye out, and only take any specific action if I found a lot, or found them very regularly.
*they could be that but they could be a lot of things, photo is too blurry for me to be sure.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:07 PM on February 11, 2018
Personally I’d do nothing but keep my eye out, and only take any specific action if I found a lot, or found them very regularly.
*they could be that but they could be a lot of things, photo is too blurry for me to be sure.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:07 PM on February 11, 2018
They could be shed carpet beetle larva skins. We had a rash of them many years back. Seconding fancyoat's advice. Extreme vacuuming seemed to do the trick.
posted by dws at 8:21 PM on February 11, 2018
posted by dws at 8:21 PM on February 11, 2018
Those are not *rolly pollys/pillbugs. * They may well be the larval form of some type of beetle. I had some carpet beetles a while back and I got an alergic rash when I came into contact with their shed skins. They were concentrated in an alpaca wool throw. I put the throw in a black garbage bag outside in the sun for three days and never had any more problems. YMMV.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:55 PM on February 11, 2018
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:55 PM on February 11, 2018
Yeah, those definitely look like the carpet beetles I've had in various apartments. They are a huge pain. If you've seen any fairly innocuous looking grown up beetles, sort of like smaller monochrome ladybugs, those are the adult form. I used to spread borax around on the (truly shitty) carpet in my previous apartment, especially under and behind bureaus and other furniture, to provide at least some kind of bug-killing effect between vacuumings. Also make sure you switch out your vacuum bags frequently and throw them away outside the house, and/or spray pyrethrin directly into the vacuum bags.
posted by Cimrmanova at 12:27 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Cimrmanova at 12:27 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
The exterminator told me that the best thing I could do to minimize them was to clean and vacuum religiously, especially in dark and hidden crevices, along baseboards, under the bed, etc.
That's what my exterminator told me, too. My wool and cashmere clothes are in plastic bags and boxes, some in plastic bags within plastic boxes. Don't assume any container will keep them out.
posted by jgirl at 6:12 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's what my exterminator told me, too. My wool and cashmere clothes are in plastic bags and boxes, some in plastic bags within plastic boxes. Don't assume any container will keep them out.
posted by jgirl at 6:12 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Your photo is a little blurry but those creatures seem to have considerably more legs. Therefore they are not carpet beetles.
They look a bit like a bug known by various names: rolly-polly, pillbug, many more. If that's what they are they are harmless.
posted by yohko at 6:07 PM on February 11, 2018