Carpet beetle question.

[Elizabeth1]

Hi everyone.

I'm pretty new to this so i'm not really sure if i'm posting this in the right place or not?

I've had a bit of a problem with carpet beetles ever since I moved into my house 2 years ago only about this time of year, but I was wondering if they can cause harm to humans? I have found them upstairs and downstairs in my house ( my downstairs is all flooring no carpets ) and today I noticed a dead one in a drawer. So I was wondering if they get onto anything and I don't realise - Clothing underwear plates forks etc can it be harmful? I have a 3 year old and I'm really worried for her too, I washed eveything in that drawer but im not sure how long it had been there for! I've been checking everywhere for more and Its driving me crazy worrying.

I hope someone can help me

[thunder]

I have never heard of Carpet Beetles being harmful to humans - but I suppose somebody out there will be allergic to them. Since they do feed on a variety of animal products, it would be as well to check carefully your cutlery and crockery drawers, but as I say, I have never heard of any problems. They can't do any physical damage to a human - just cause stress while you are trying to find out where they are feeding.

henrya

[Rossco]

Apart from the obvious damage to textiles, etc, they're not a problem. As for allergenicity, you'd have to be a hypersensitive individual to have a problem and even then you'd probably need a massive infestation for their to be significant enough amounts of insect cuticle and faeces in the air and on furniture to cause an allergic response. So, the short answer is, they're nothing to worry about.

Insects like these have lived alongside humans for hundreds of thousands of years and I would let them get on with it unless they're causing a real problem. The benefits of using unpleasant chemicals to eradicate them is far outweighed by the potential for these to cause long-term harm, especially in the home.

[Elizabeth1]

Ok thanks I've been worrying so much because as I said i'm not sure how long it was there and if it had maybe laid eggs or not first! I did'nt see anything else in the drawer although I don't know anything about the carpet beetles so I don't know if their eggs would be visable anyway And I found nothing a help on the internet untill I came across this page

Thanks again
Elizabeth

[Nickynockynoonoo]

Check your airing cupboard, go through drawers that may have woolen items not used much. Also check your loft for offcuts of natural fibre carpet underlay. That's where ours were hiding. We got rid of the underlay and the carpet beetles packed their bags and left.