We all know that bugs can be destructive — eating your food supplies, nesting within the wooden structures in your home, or even spreading diseases. But we don't often consider pests eating things besides food. However, if you knew the kinds of damage that carpet beetles can do inside your house, you'd put them at the top of your pest-prevention list.
Carpet Beetles In Louisville
Carpet beetles in Louisville only measure up to four millimeters in length, making their yellow, black, and white patterned bodies very hard to notice. You're more likely to see carpet beetle larvae, which are slightly bigger than the adults and have distinctive golden hairs coming off their oval-shaped bodies.
Since carpet beetle larvae do have a diet that consists mostly of actual carpet and furniture fibers, they can survive for long periods within your home. While larvae can be skin irritants due to their sharp, fine hairs, they can also do a lot of damage to your carpets, furniture, and even the wooden structures in your phone. As adults, they feed on pollen, but you still need to worry about keeping the adults out. After all, that's how the larvae get in. Adult carpet beetles will fly in through an open door or window and lay eggs in the carpet or on furniture, knowing it's a surface on which their eggs will thrive.
Signs Of Infestation
Since carpet beetles and their larvae are very small, infestations can go on for a long time without notice. The easiest way to spot their activities is by witnessing large groups of carpet beetles that will gather outside your windows and on your outdoor lights. If you spot adult beetles, you can be pretty sure that they have laid eggs inside your home.
You might be able to spot the carpet beetle larvae crawling on surfaces, but you're more likely to notice the damage they're doing in your home first. You'll see holes chewed in furniture items and threads torn into disarray within your carpets. You might also notice shed skins left behind.
Prevention And Eradication Techniques
Preventing carpet beetles from infesting your home is all about sealing up entryways. You need to know what you're looking for like gaps under doors, gaps around windows, holes in screens, and cracks in the foundation.
New, effective door sweeps should fill any gaps under doors. Caulking around windows needs to be secured and double-checked since these beetles are very small. Any screened areas such as a screen door and a screened-in porch need to be monitored for holes or tears. When checking for cracks in the foundation, you'll need to fill those areas with extra caulking or get professional help in sealing up all potential entry points.
Once carpet beetles have made it in your house, there isn't a lot that you can do about it. The most popular forms of do-it-yourself carpet beetle treatments may help. You can start by trying the following remedies:
- Vacuuming your house will help to suck the pests up.
- By steam cleaning carpets and upholstery, the heat and moisture should remove all beetles that remain.
- Launder all your linens in hot water to get rid of any beetle larvae.
- Wiping surfaces down with vinegar has also been known to work to deter carpet beetles.
Unfortunately, you can do all of these things and not cover everything. Remember, carpet beetles are very difficult to spot, so you might not vacuum all of them up. For guaranteed eradication and prevention, you might want to go with the pros. Contact Action Pest Control for more advice or assistance.