Old apartment under insect attack!

July 9, 2008 9:22 AM

Old apartment under insect attack!

I am posting this question on behalf of a good friend who is a reader of this site but not yet a member. We'll call her M.

M: "It seems as though we have a black carpet beetle infestation (or at least that's what they look like to me). We've seen a few adults around since spring, which I thought just came with the old-and-in-disrepair apartment package, but today I found larvae while I was cleaning the litter boxes (they were under the bag of litter).

The litter boxes are in a "sun room" close to two unused mattresses and the room has a scrap carpet from my parents' house covering the linoleum. We've also found more under our couches and the jute rug in the living room. The rest of the apartment has old, gappy hardwood floors, so I'm hoping that's all there is.

Aside from frantic vacuuming, I need to know what else I should be doing. Should we just throw away the carpeting? Are the mattresses ok - and if not - how can I clean them? Do I need to use a pesticide? If so, is there something that is natural and/or safe to use around cats?

How can I prevent this from happening again (aside from stepping up the vacuuming)? Needless to say, I'm completely mortified and thoroughly grossed out. "

I will be posting any follow ups from M.

Thanks MeFi.

posted by utsutsu to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

Response by poster: An update to say that this *appears* to be the nasty in question... or the closest that M could find on the tubes. No readily available digital camera to take first hand photos.

I am really hoping Ask can save the day on this one, or I may have a couple of friends and three new cats riding my couch :)
posted by utsutsu at 1:04 PM on July 9, 2008

Response by poster: Hrm well, after discovering additional sites of infestation involving various critters, my friends have decided on the nuclear option... fancy new apartment!
posted by utsutsu at 1:46 PM on July 23, 2008