While carpet beetles might not be the world’s most threatening pests they can certainly cause a lot of damage and are quite bothersome. They won’t destroy your home like a nest full of termites or leave nasty droppings like a mouse infestation, but they have their own special way of causing damage. You do not want to share your Louisville home with a family of carpet beetles, especially the larvae. Read on to see what problems they cause, some prevention tips, and how to get professional home pest control help to get rid of them.
Carpet beetles look much like any other beetle, with an oval-shaped body that is dark brown in color and a hard-looking outer shell. At first, you might just think they are a minor annoyance and will stomp on them or vacuum them up and get rid of them. What you don’t realize is that they’ve been laying their eggs and their larvae are ready and waiting to do some major damage. The carpet beetle larvae survive on animal-based fibers and materials such as leather, silk, fur, and wool. This means they will eat all of your most expensive items from rugs to upholstered furniture, coats, sweaters, pillows, bedding – anything made of these materials. An infestation of carpet beetles can cause some serious damage. While the adults don’t really eat these things they can do damage outside your home, eating your plants, and can hitch a ride indoors where they begin the cycle of damage.
As with most pests, the best way to prevent carpet beetle damage in your home is to keep them out in the first place. Sealing up cracks in doors and windows, using screens to keep pests out, and checking plants that you bring indoors can help. You also want to check your pets to make sure the beetles aren’t hitching a ride into your house on them. Another way to combat the beetles and their larvae is to vacuum often, wipe down fabric furniture, and steam clean your rugs and upholstery on a regular basis.
Despite keeping your eye out for carpet beetles in your Louisville home, you may end up with an infestation that takes you by surprise. If you want to prevent any type of pest infestation, a good plan is to call Action Pest Control for regular preventative services. But don’t worry – if you have an active infestation the professional technicians at Action Pest can help too. They will come out and assess your problem, come up with a treatment plan, and work with you to get rid of any carpet beetles you have in your home.