Tiny Black Carpet Beetles

Adult carpet beetles feed on flower pollen and do not damage woolens and other fabrics.

Tiny black carpet beetles.

Carpet beetles measure just 1 16 to 1 8 inches long about the size of a pinhead and vary in color. The small black carpet beetle is an indoor invasive pest. These tiny carpet beetles start out their adult life as white beetles. Like many other beetles they are round or oval and convex like ladybugs.

Adults do not cause damage indoors. Because they feed on natural cloth fibers cereals and pet food most homes contain at least a few carpet beetles. Black carpet beetle larvae are longer than many other carpet beetle larvae and are brown and gold in color. They reproduce very slowly so rarely do they become noticeable or a great nuisance.

The adults are small 1 16 to 1 8 inch oval shaped beetles ranging in color from black to various mottled patterns of white brown yellow and orange. Others might be mottled with spots of brown and black on a lighter background. They do not cause diseases nor bite human beings. These tiny black beetle bugs belong to the family dermestidae and their larvae can be a true household pest.

Black carpet beetle larvae can survive up to 640 days and adults can live for a couple of months. Attagenus unicolor is the scientific name for the black carpet beetle. A clump of golden hairs is located at the end of their bodies. One variety of household pest that can fit the tiny black beetle description is the common carpet beetle.

Some are black or dark enough to appear black when observed with the human eye.