skip to main content

Accessibility and Display Options

Choose accessibility and display settings
Text Preferences
Colour Schemes
Cookies
Save Close

Cookies and Privacy

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer

Some of these cookies are necessary to make the site work. We’d also like to use optional cookies to help improve your experience on the site. You can manage your optional cookie preferences below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences. Your preferences can be changed at any time.

For further details, see our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy

I AcceptI Do Not Accept


Essential

Essential cookies enable core functionality such as page navigation and access to secure areas. The website cannot function properly without these cookies; they can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. Third party functions such as Google Search and Analytics will not be enabled.


Performance

Performance settings enable you to use the Google Search engine on our website and help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage (for example, which of our pages are most frequently visited).

Save and Close



 


You are here: Home / Licensing And Inspections / Pest Control

Carpet beetles or fur Beetles

Carpet beetles (anthrenus spp) are 3mm long and fur beetles (attagenus spp) are 5mm.

Colour

Carpet beetle - dark brown or black mottled with patches of yellow or white

Fur beetle - black with a white spot on either side of back.

Occurrence

Adults live outdoors on plants. Larvae (maggots) live indoors and often in bird nests.

Habits

Adult carpet beetles seek light so stay out of doors from the end of March until June. They lay eggs indoors. The larvae (grubs) known as 'woolly bears' avoid light and are found in dark, undisturbed places. Their full life cycle is about a year. They get into homes via the loft from bird nests in the eaves. Larvae will first attack the insulation in the roof space and spread down pipes into the cylinder cupboard, etc. Little is known of the fur beetle, but its life cycle and habits are similar to the carpet beetle.

Food

Adults feed on flowers but larvae feed on materials of animal origin such as woollen goods and may inflict severe damage to fitted carpets, stored clothes etc.

Control

Remove bird nests from roof spaces and eaves if they are present. If lagging is infested, remove it and burn it with the old bird nests. Vulnerable areas of fitted carpets, such as by skirting boards, should be vacuumed with a nozzle cleaner. We provide a pest control service for carpet and fur Beetles for a charge.

If you would like us to help, please telephone us on 01329 236100 or email regulatory@fareham.gov.uk




Back to top of page Back to Top How to get here
Fareham Borough Council, Civic Offices, Civic Way, Hampshire, PO16 7AZ
Tel: +44 (0) 1329 236100 | Mobile Text/Photo: 07860 098627
RSS Feeds