“Do carpet beetle larvae get under your skin?” asks this reader in her submission. She reports experiencing a “real infestation that happened in days,” though she sends no photographs with her query.
In addition to the question above, our reader also asks if carpet beetle larvae pinch or bite. To answer both of her questions, carpet beetle larvae neither get under one’s skin nor do they pinch or bite. Carpet beetle larvae are notorious household pests, but they are not directly harmful to human or pet health. The most they do is destroy items in one’s home that are made from organic and animal-based materials.
Now, without photos, it is impossible for us to confirm or deny if the infestation our reader is experiencing is a carpet beetle infestation. We will nonetheless attach a photo from a previous article of a carpet beetle larva that our reader can use as reference to compare the creatures she found to. If the creatures she found do not resemble the one in the photo in the slightest, then they are probably not carpet beetle larvae.
In either case, if these organisms are burrowing under our reader’s skin, then they are definitely not carpet beetle larvae. We are not qualified to identify organisms that pose health threats, as we are not medical professionals. So in the case that these creatures really are under our reader’s skin, and she is not asking out of mere curiosity, then we urge her to seek medical consultation. In particular, we recommend that she consult a medical parasitologist, which is a physician that specializes in infections caused by organisms.
So, what we can recommend is that our reader do one or more of the following:
1) Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.
2) Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.
3) Get in touch with Dr. Omar Amin at the Parasitology Center at https://www.parasitetesting.com.
To conclude, carpet beetle larvae do not get under people’s skin, nor do they bite or pinch. If the infestation our reader is experiencing is caused by organisms that do this, then we recommend that she consult a medical parasitologist for a professional’s opinion on the matter. We hope this helps, and we wish her the very best.
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Its happening to me now. A reaction maybe but they are whelts that itch open up and small bits of what looks like bug shells its awful nobody will listen
I Found a tiny brown beetle in one of my lesions with different colored threads in it. I found a larvae with black hairs on it, striped, which I learned was a carpet beetle larvae. That larvae was on my sheet – The fitted sheet on my bed that I lay on.
I went to search for “do carpet beetles” and it automatically brought up a search for “burrow under human skin.” So obviously many people have searched this before. Why would they if it weren’t happening to them? This is very real. For some reason I don’t feel like it’s a threat, but it’s very real.
I have lesions and I know carpet beetles will go towards your hair at night seeking the oil from it.
This bettle looked like a baby June bug. It was a small beetle, brown, and it tried to open its wings which I would not have known to be there if it had not tried to open them. The right wing opened somewhat, revealing a translucent wing with black outlining within the wing and on the outer edge. The left wing would not open. I believe it’s because it was so damp.
This likely sounds completely off the wall and whatever else it may sound, but reality is that that this is unbelievably true.
When I go to do a Google search for “do carpet beetles”, I believe that’s as far as I get, and immediately it suggests burrough under human skin. This tells me many people have searched this, and if that many people have searched it, there has to be a very real chance it’s happening. I mean really, who searches for that without having experienced it? This is very real. I don’t feel like it necessarily was there intentionally, especially because it’s never happened again. I wonder if it’s possible it hatched under my skin with those threads?
I wonder if my skin was real thin right there on the lesion and it kind of fell in there? But then there’s the whole thread issue.
I have morgellons, and have many lesions. This time is the one and only time I had colored threads. All other lesions contain a translucent string or worm type of thing. Someone who seemed knowledgeable suggested it’s a form of fungi. (The translucent string or hair type of thing that is in all of my lesions.) She believes it’s name was something, I believe it started witha p. Maybe ph…. I read this just before getting a bad case of covid that left me in bed for 15 days straight. I had to get prescription medicine to help me recover. I’m finally back to being able to research again.
I hope this brings someone to begin looking into this because it’s very real. I don’t know why, but I don’t feel like it’s a threat, however it is in fact happening to people. And it’s not the larvae. For me it was the actual beetle. Please believe me and at least do a search and see how many others have searched it and what else you can find. Just because no one’s seen it or reported it before doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Believe me, I know in a way that I wish weren’t possible for more than just this particular issue.