How Carpet Beetle Penetrate and Damage Your Home

Aug 7
09:50

2012

Ma. Theresa Galan

Ma. Theresa Galan

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It is suspected there are certain scents or odors which attract the carpet beetle into your home. During the warmer months they will find their way into homes through windows, open doors and screened openings. Carpet beetles will fly and can fit into any small opening.

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Carpet beetles can fly so it is easy for them to get inside. It is not known why they seem ready to get into our homes,How Carpet Beetle Penetrate and Damage Your Home Articles but it is suspected there are certain scents or odors which lure them. Like the common house fly, carpet beetles seem to know when doors or windows are open. If they enter at this time, they are usually looking for a place to lay eggs. Adults which have fed during the summer months mate and females will spend their time laying eggs.

Carpet beetles can be found on the underside of furniture, along the baseboard where carpet meets molding, under area rugs, or in closets.  When treating carpet beetles it is important to cover all areas and to inspect your home carefully, especially in places that you usually don't look. The adult carpet beetle will roam and generally does not stay in one area to often, when controlling carpet beetles you will need to treat all the carpets in your house as well as clean any other fabrics.

The most frustrating type of infestation is one which is thought to be in a closet. Most clothes which are found to have a hole or two chewed in them are immediately diagnosed as having been eaten by clothes moths. In fact, it is much more likely the insect causing the damage is a carpet beetle. Moth infestations are easy to identify because you will find adult moths flying around the clothing they are infesting. You will readily find adult moths, pupa casing or cocoons and larva in your clothes. They tend to stay where they are feeding. Carpet beetles are different. Once the larva feeds, they will generally move somewhere else to pupate. They won't move far, but they usually won't stay in the clothes either. This is important when treating.

Controlling carpet beetle infestations can be difficult mainly because they are active in small areas but they are likely several such areas throughout the home and they tend to be active in hidden areas. Finding carpet beetles is not an easy task because unlike many other pests Carpet beetle infestations are more likely to be discovered because of the damage they do and not because large populations. Carpet beetle control then gets a little trickier because the carpet beetle has a defense mechanism against treatments. Although larva and adults can be easily killed, eggs and pupa are not. This is because eggs and pupa which hatch after the treatment are protected by there encasings. To prevent further infestation and to have total carpet beetle control it is recommended that you treat several times after the initial treatment.

Three steps to ensure that carpet beetles do not return after a professional treatment:

Frequent household cleaning, including thoroughly vacuuming carpeting and upholstery, washing or dry-cleaning clothing and articles made of susceptible fibers is recommended Vacuum cleaning areas under baseboards, behind door casings, under radiators, and inside furnace and air conditioning registers to remove as much lint as possible To present re-infestation, as many potential breeding sites should be eliminated as possible. Discarded remnant carpeting, old feather pillows, and dried flower arrangements or "shadow boxes" containing caches of dried seeds should be destroyed.

For more information, check out the sites below:

pest control west auckland, pest control east auckland