There are 3 types of carpet beetles that can be found in your home and they are the varied carpet beetle, the furniture carpet beetle, and the black carpet beetle.
The adult varied carpet beetle is extremely tiny and is black with a brown, white, and dark yellow pattern of scales on its wing covers. As they get older, the wings will start to appear black or brown. In the outdoors, the female varied carpet beetles look for wasp, birds, or bees nests and spider webs to lay their eggs. The webs and nests serve as larval food because they contain beeswax, dead insects, pollen, feathers, or other debris. Being indoors, the beetles lay their eggs on or near woolen goods, furs, wool carpets/rugs, animal horns/skins, stuffed animals, whalebone, silk, furs, leather book bindings, feathers, dried plant products, hair, and other materials that can serve as larval food for them. Also, the adult beetles will most likely appear in the spring or early summer, and indoors, you can find them near windows. The mature larvae get to be a little bit longer than adults and are covered in dense tufts of hair. They can be recognizable from other carpet beetles because they have light and dark brown stripes and they are narrower in the front and broader in the rear. Varied carpet beetles usually lay 40 eggs at a time and female adults can live up to 6 weeks and the male adults can live up to 4 weeks.
Furniture carpet beetles are a little bit rounder and bigger than the varied carpet beetle. The markings may vary on the adults, but it has black spots that are scattered with white and dark yellow/orange scales on its wing covers. As the beetle gets older, its scales may wear off causing it to look black with a white underside. The larvae are white at first but then turn dark red or brown as they get older. Also, this larvae will feed on the same type of things as a varied carpet beetle larvae. Furniture carpet beetles will lay about 60 eggs and the adults can live to up to 8 weeks.
Black carpet beetles are distinctly different from the other 2 types of beetles because of the size. They are a little bit bigger, but still less than an inch long and they are shiny black with dark brown legs. The larvae can appear as smooth, shiny, and short with stiff hairs covering the body. Their body ends in a tuft in long hairs as well. In arid areas like California, this beetle is more of a serious pest problem for stored products like flours, grains, and cereals, rather than a pest for fabrics. The black carpet beetle will typically lay 90 eggs and the adults can live up to 8 weeks.
