The varied carpet beetle is a skin beetle, first described by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1767.
Size: 1.7 to 3.5 mm (0.07 to 0.14 in)
Color: Its elytra are a patchwork of brown, yellow, and white.
Other Characteristic Features: They have white scales forming a series of traverse wavy lines and have antennae with 11 segments, including a club of 3 segments.
The larvae are covered in setae organized into alternating light and dark patches. They measure up to 4-5 mm in length.
Pupation depends on temperature and environment, taking 89 days at 10 °C but only 9 days at 25 °C.
Eggs are also temperature-dependent, with incubation periods drastically dropping from 54 days at 15 °C to 12 days at 30 °C.
| Lifespan | 20-60 days |
| Distribution | Cosmopolitan, found worldwide |
| Habitat | Temperate regions; can be found both outdoors (nests of birds, bat roosts) and indoors (dried-milk factories, flour mills, and warehouses) |
| Seasons active | Household beetles: Fall Outdoors beetles: Spring |
| Predators | Parasitoid wasps |
| Host plants | The larvae are not dependent on host plants, feeding on the keratin and chitin of natural fibers |
| Diet of adults | Pollen and nectar of flowering plants like buckwheat, crape myrtle, and spiraea |
In households, they cause damage to items like furniture, blankets, and furs, while in museums, the damage is done to biological collections.
Image Source: discoverlife.org, arthropodafotos.de, wwrnet.com, bugguide.net,
The varied carpet beetle is a skin beetle, first described by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1767.
Size: 1.7 to 3.5 mm (0.07 to 0.14 in)
Color: Its elytra are a patchwork of brown, yellow, and white.
Other Characteristic Features: They have white scales forming a series of traverse wavy lines and have antennae with 11 segments, including a club of 3 segments.
The larvae are covered in setae organized into alternating light and dark patches. They measure up to 4-5 mm in length.
Pupation depends on temperature and environment, taking 89 days at 10 °C but only 9 days at 25 °C.
Eggs are also temperature-dependent, with incubation periods drastically dropping from 54 days at 15 °C to 12 days at 30 °C.
| Lifespan | 20-60 days |
| Distribution | Cosmopolitan, found worldwide |
| Habitat | Temperate regions; can be found both outdoors (nests of birds, bat roosts) and indoors (dried-milk factories, flour mills, and warehouses) |
| Seasons active | Household beetles: Fall Outdoors beetles: Spring |
| Predators | Parasitoid wasps |
| Host plants | The larvae are not dependent on host plants, feeding on the keratin and chitin of natural fibers |
| Diet of adults | Pollen and nectar of flowering plants like buckwheat, crape myrtle, and spiraea |
In households, they cause damage to items like furniture, blankets, and furs, while in museums, the damage is done to biological collections.
Image Source: discoverlife.org, arthropodafotos.de, wwrnet.com, bugguide.net,
