“Could you please help me ID these two creatures?” asks “Becky Bee the Buggaphobic” from Eugene Oregon. “One was hanging from an electronic near my bed, and that is swinging back-and-forth in the short video that I’ve attached to this message. The other picture is of a circular glob of spider egg-like material that was also near my bed. However, it was just sitting, dangling like the brown mass, and sort of avoiding light perhaps, under some papers near my bed. I am not sure if the two masses are related nor am I sure what the white worm-like casing is that is pictured — heck maybe different stages of life and same species? The brown circular-shaped mass on the blue paper below was what dangled from the electronic device in the video.”

Firstly, with respect to the insectile creature in the first image, we think this looks like a carpet beetle. Oddly enough, as often as we write about carpet beetles, we almost never get photos of the adult beetle – it is always the larvae that our readers tend to find. Of course, this makes sense: it only takes two adult beetles to tango, while the mother beetle will lay around 40 eggs which will eventually turn into 40 larvae that roam around the house munching on the textile items in the home. The bug hanging from the electronic could very well also be a carpet beetle larva, despite the fact that they do not spin webs – maybe it got caught in a spider web.

Secondly, the “glob of spider egg-like material” could be just that, or it could be some of the material that the carpet beetles have extracted from the textile items they are eating on. To be clear, carpet beetles and their larvae feed on any organic fabrics/soft materials, including cotton, wool, leather, and feathers. One can typically find them on sources of these materials, like clothes or, well, carpets. In the case that these beetles have already laid eggs, we recommend that Becky Bee vacuum her entire home, and that she especially be thorough in those spots where the beetles were found. She may also want to launder any potentially infested items, particularly those near the spot the beetles were found.

Lastly, with regard to the “worm-like casing” that is pictured, this too could be pieces of fluff that the beetles have dragged with them to munch on, or perhaps they haven’t laid their eggs yet, and they are collecting food for their future children? If that is the case, which would be very lucky for Becky Bee, then she needs only move the beetles outside and call it a day (we recommend that she move them outside either way – ideally somewhere far from her home so they don’t just re-enter).

To conclude, we think that the bugs Becky Bee found are carpet beetles. They can prove quite the pest, and infestations of their larvae can be hard to beat. But, seeing as Becky Bee hasn’t found any roaming larvae yet, she might be so lucky as to get rid of the infestation before it begins. We hope this has helped, and we wish her the very best!

Summary

Article Name

Bugs and Fluff Scattered Around Bedroom are the Products of a Carpet Beetle Invasion

Description

"Could you please help me ID these two creatures?" asks "Becky Bee the Buggaphobic" from Eugene Oregon. "One was hanging from an electronic near my bed, and that is swinging back-and-forth in the short video that I've attached to this message. The other picture is of a circular glob of spider egg-like material that was also near my bed. However, it was just sitting, dangling like the brown mass, and sort of avoiding light perhaps, under some papers near my bed. I am not sure if the two masses are related nor am I sure what the white worm-like casing is that is pictured — heck maybe different stages of life and same species? The brown circular-shaped mass on the blue paper below was what dangled from the electronic device in the video."

Author

Worm Researcher Anton