Think we have carpet Beetle larvae? 3rd House but how?

[MCD]

Hi all,

Well this is my first post in this forum! Hope i'm in the right place and you guys can help me! I've read a good few very informative threads on here, so i feel i may be in the right place!

About 5 years ago in our old house my wife started finding these what we believe to be Carpet Beetle Larvae? They are really small, i guess 1-2mm, have a ribbed back (kind of like wood louse) and are usually a creamy colour with bit of brown etc.

We never found a huge amount, usually odd ones on the walls, or at worst ontop on the bed covers which drove my wife mad. We never got to the bottom of the problem? We kept the room immaculately clean, changed bedding, allsorts but to no avail.

We then moved to our second house, we were only there 11months, but over that period we again found one, or two of these little horrors in the bedroom but never persued it as we moved house again.

We have since bought a bungalow & completed a ground up rebuild before moving in, not because of the bugs, but because it needed it! That includes bare brick re plastered, new floor, joists, plumbing, electrics, windows, carpets the lot, basically a new house. We have been living there 4 months now, over the past few weeks my wife has found 6 of these blummin bugs again! Last night we found one on the bed... she's going mad!

We can't work out a common denominator? We have a different bed, mattress, bedding, even the furniture is new as in last house it was fitted...

So, what are we doing wrong? Are we unhygenic? I cant work out how they are getting in? Or are we breeding them somehow? In all three houses we have never had an infestation, probably at most 3-4 a week are found, but its not nice, especially for my wife!

Of course we clean under the bed, hoover, wipe down surfaces, all we can, but I'm getting a bit concerned now, not sure how exactly we are getting them, again in a third house which is basically scratch built!

Thankyou very much for any help, i'm in Cheadle Hulme Cheshire, if you can recommend any specialists, or methods of dealing with this i would really really appreciate it!

Thanks again

Mike

[Lance Morgan]

Hello and welcome Mike
Carpet beetles are found in the wild and do not reflect hygiene standards so don't worry. They are notoriously difficult to eradicate as they love heat especially in centrally heated houses and will continue to breed if conditions are right. In cold conditions they hibernate and reappear in the Spring.
It is important to first trace the source of the infestation. Check the roofspace for old birds' nests and wool based lagging or other materials, examine the cracks between floorboards around the edges of rooms and under skirting boards for accumulations of debris and check sheepskin rugs and all animal fur/skin clothing.
Infested nests and inexpensive materials should be removed and burned and the areas from which they have been removed thoroughly vacuumed using a nozzle head and paying particular attention to cracks and crevices.
The above should be complemented by treating using a residual (crawling insect) insecticide to ensure that all larvae have been killed.
Pesticides are available from hardware stores, make sure you read and follow the instructions before use.
Hope that helps

[MCD]

Hi Lance,

Thankyou very much for your advise! The thing is everything on your list confuses me! For our first and second house I would agree and go along with what your saying. But this latest house, well actually Bungalow is totally different!

When we bought it, it had rot in the floors. We Stripped every single bit of wood out of the property (except roof joists) And treated through out. The bungalow has recieved:

1. Brand new floor joists, DPC, treatment etc.
2. Brand new floor boards.
3. Brand new MDF Skirting & architraving through out.
4. Brand new PVC windows & doors.
5. Bear brick, plaster boarded & plastered through out.
6. Loft space cleared, hoover etc, and fully re-lagged under a grant.
7. Brand new carpets to bedroom
8. Brand laminate flooring in hallway etc

As well as that, bathroom & Kitchen are brand new, plumbing overhauled, full rewire etc! As such, i know the house intimately! I know nucks and crannys, i know for example we put fine mesh over air bricks at subfloor level to prevent stuff coming in..... I just cant work out what else to do?

I could understand if, perhaps they are getting up the eves, and into the loft space, but how would they get into the rooms below? We are fully plastered, so in effect the rooms are sealed from the loft space?

Thanks again, still confused though..... More concerned for my wife, its driving her mad!

Mike

[derelict]

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

Hello and welcome Mike
Carpet beetles are found in the wild and do not reflect hygiene standards so don't worry.

Absolutely. I think you're being a little paranoid about these beasties - one of the main problems for you - as for me - is that we can actually see these things! I don't suppose a lot of people even realise they have these knocking about their homes. Don't spray your home & possessions unless you've got an infestation that justifies it. The peace of mind it brings is fallacious.

1-2mm is nowhere near adult sized for carpet beetle. Perhaps if you check your clothes drawers (esp socks & woollen items) you may find some little granular droppings at the bottom which is a bit of a giveaway. Rolled up socks that are never worn, that sort of thing. All sorts of things turn up here - drugstore beetle (scary stuff - they can look very like woodworm beetles!), various species of clothes moth, 2 types of carpet beetle and gross dermestid beetle larvae feeding on the hairs shed by the chipmunks when they moulted!Collectively it sounds awful, but over a decade they amount to sweet FA. A lot of these -esp the clothes moth larvae - got fed to the chipmunks who gobbled them up!

[Lance Morgan]

The beetles can fly. They hatch in the Spring and fly to light at windows , doors etc. Once they find a nice warm environment they lay their eggs.
Every house will contain them at some time or another.
Get some insecticide and treat the beetles, larvae when you find them. Other than the damage the larva cause when feeding they are harmless.

[MCD]

Thanks for that!

My wife is very intollerant of creapy crawlies full stop! If theres a moth, or spider in a room, then i have to move it on etc!

So her finding these bugs in our bedroom, and one on the bed has made her very worried! She is constantly looking around the room trying to spot them! What you have said above is reassuring and echo's what my own feelings are, that basically we dont have an infestation!

What still confusing me, you say they find somewhere warm and lay eggs, but we arent finding hundreds of them, just a grand total of six in the past 2-3 weeks?

Mike

[Leighsa]

Hi Mike and all,

Mike's problem seems a littlew like mind and I'm really worried. I found a maggot-like larvae wriggling on where i had been sitting 2 mintes ago this morning - it really worried me, as it was very active. I wasn't sure whether it had come off me or dropped from somewhere.

Then I found another one stuck to my hot water bottle and it was still moving - I actually had the hot water in bed with me yesterday night! Checked the bed sheets and duvet but nothing. Sounds funny, but I am actually very worried - not sure if it's come from me or the bed... I wash regularly, change the sheets and covers regularly...

Then as I was pulling the sheets off, I found several more near the bed on the floor - so I am now stripping down the room and cleaning everything.

This evening I have found three more wriggling about on the floor - a spot where I had previously looked and was sure there was nothing there. So I do not know why they have appeared.

This is the bedroom, so there is no food left lying around, although I have eaten a few times in there.

I am baffed and very worried as to why they have appeared - from a health and hygiene point of view does anyone have any advice?

I would also like to stop them coming back, does anyone know of any good carpet disfinfectants?

[Leighsa]

Could anyone help please?

[Sparklebug]

Hi Leigh/MCD - they do not feed on crumbs, but on fibres, animal or likewise. Wool, pet hairs, fabrics....etc. So no matter how clean you are they like to nibble your carpets, curtains etc. I had these once in army quarters. They like warmth, and like has been said, corners of sock drawers, and airing cupboards or divan beds with yummy fibres available! It has nothing to do with being clean. Also Mike, although you have moved, have you put up the same curtains in your new house, brought your favourite woolies etc. That may be why you still have them........but like has been said they are pretty harmless really, unless you have a huge infestation where your carpets are disappearing before your eyes not worth worrying about too much. I still find the odd beetle now in my home, I just crush them. Hoover out my wardrobe and drawers now and then, and empty the contents into the bin outside immediately. But otherwise I don't worry too much.

[Dally]

Hi all,
We also have carpet beetle lavae.
It started in the spring we noticed a few beetles everyday in the kitchen and one of the kids bedrooms ( which is above the kitchen). We didnt really take much notice of them as they appeared every now and then Then in the summer we started noticing the lavae again in the kitchen, and then in the bedroom as before. We had s good clear out in the bedroom and found about 6 of yhem inside a cardboard box that had some photos in. At this point my wife freaked out!!!! The bedroom has now been completely emptied apart from 2 beds (these are brand new as we got rid of the others). They also keep appearing in the kitchen. All cupboards have been emptied an cleaned and nothing has been put back in so that we can keep checking them. We have had the whole house sprayed with insecticide 3 times over a 4 week period and we are still finding these little b#####s walking around without a care in the world!!!! My wife is so upsetthat she has had to see her doctor and is now taking anti-depressants and is going to see a councellor on Friday. We are analysing every speck of dust on the floor to see if there is anything there. What worries us as well is that the lavae can live for so long and after having sprayed the house they are still alive.
The thing we can't get our heads round is how they could of got here in the first place and how can we stop this happening again. We dont have a birds nest in the loft and dont have any pets.
Any advise would be greatly received.