I have just discovered these carpet beetles everywhere I go lately. My friend who has been battling them for a while and moved out of home over them just showed me what they look like at various stages. I was shocked to find them under the skin on my own body. I had thought my recent problems to be tick bites. The particles of “things” I felt and could see in my skin I even thought may be head of tick left behind when had pulled tick out. While looking with a magnifying glass it is clear that particles in, under, and some removed by me from my skin are larvae of carpet beetles. I believe sore like places on my body and on her scalp may be burrowed eggs. I havnt spoke to any professionals about it , but she was told to see a psyciatrist when she went to doctor and to ER for help.

I went through all the steps for about a month now, cleaned everything, threw out my sofa as that is where I first discovered them, went through and cleaned everything, vacuuming constantly, have been spraying permethrin 99% once a month and now I SEE THEM DROPPING OUT MY BEDROOM CEILING VENTS ON TO THE WINDOW SILL, TINY BLACK LARVA that look like teenie tiny black worms that wiggle, can see the antennas with a magnifying glass. all this time and everything I’ve done and they are just plopping out the vent. it’s hard to tell with my other vents cause they would just drop onto darker color carpet and I would have no clue. I knew they didn’t crawl up there to the window sill and all be right in the same spot on the white window sill, so now I taped all vents up and haven’t see one. problem that very soon I will need air again. trying to figure out now how they got into the duct work, I think it could be from a hole somewhere in the duct work or from the self contained heat/air unit from a hole or crack somewhere, I have wanted to croak over this as now it seems they will never be gone. I called a duct cleaner but they said it will be a waste if I don’t find out how they are getting into the ducts in the first place, need to find someone to check around the ac unit and the attic which are all hard to get to and if my landlord is willing to pay for all this as I can’t afford it. any help is appreciated.

Couldn’t of said it better myself. I wonder why carpet beetles arnt studied much.

to s.o. – there is probably a fresh air intake. DO NOT cover it but you have inspired me to put sticky tape around the perimeter outside the intake. If anything is crawling in, it would get stuck on the tape before getting in the duct as long as the bug doesn’t fly. Am also going to try the same between screen and window on window ledge. That may be a good preventative measure for me as I never want to have these things and in your case maybe it will help.

@Tony and others: CAUTION. Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) truly acts as an insecticide. While naturally occurring, the workers that process DE before you purchase it, are required to wear masks (in the U.S.). It can cause serious, even fatal, lung disease after inhaling small amounts over time in your home. It scars the lung, causing silicosis (with asthma that’s disastrous). Please google or bing for more info. While it may be digested, you must be very cautious when the powder is released in the air. DO NOT BREATHE DE…or let your dogs/cats sniff it either.

Otherwise, glad to hear it worked for you!!

@Melissa, Please read my above comment about the danger to you or your pets that can occur with Diatomaceous Earth powder. I think some people figure that because food-grade DE is so naturally occurring, it cannot be harmful. However, caution must be observed to avoid inhalation and avoid scarring in the lungs.

Hopefully none/little was inhaled during your application and removal…but so happy for you that it worked!!

I was told that I was delusional but we found we have mold in our walls and to much humidity in our home from the builder not wrapping the house correctly under the vinyl siding, I kept feeling like something was biting me under my clothes & when I walked upstairs where there is wall to wall carpeting EVEN in my car! then I noticed staining on my laminate flooring and shower wall (brownish color) now I have brown looking dots on my skin looks like a freckle but its not a freckle, I lost most of my hair which use to be past my waist and it is extremely dry, I am Native American so my Hair was nice and silky. I look like I have aged 10 years and also dropped 60 pounds in 34 days and now all my joints are very painful I can bearly walk and my eye site is going, I have sprayed the house myself then hired 3 DFFERENT Exterminators who sprayed inside and out and still no help, now if I wash my floors black dots appear, After running the dishwasher there always is little black dots and little worm things in it. The one thing the exterminator did say was we have Spider Mites well after the 3 sprayings they are worst than ever now I see them stuck to the screens and I see floating things in the air, every minute I wipe off white round (salt looking) things from counters and stove. Please help I am extremely desperate and depressed I really do not know how long I can continue. Is there a specialist I can call for my Home and Especially for myself as my Health is really going fast. (remember the Doctor will not listen and he will not give me a referral to a Disease Doctor either) I have done it all Spray & Vinegar & Borax & Bleach. PLEASE HELP I WILL TRY AND PAY ANYTHING AT THIS POINT !

I have had some sort of bug problem for over a month now. At first, I thought of bedbugs, just like all of you seem to have done. I had actually had a bug drop from somewhere above me, directly in front of my face, while I was in bed reading. When I looked for it, I couldn’t find it. And like you, I had (and still have) no signs of bed bugs, other than bites. But I went ahead and began the tedious process of washing and bagging, and everything else. I also ordered a bed bug kit online, and received it this morning.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, my cats began to be bitten. All 10 of them, and whatever it is seems to prefer the cats now. This made me suspect fleas, although they are VERY rare in my area (I live in a high desert area). I found a small blackish bug on my kitten, and this made me think, “AHA! So it IS fleas!” About a week ago, I combed a tiny, dead worm-like thing out of my hair; I have waist-long, thick hair. I looked up flea larvae, and thought that was what it was. I set up a flea trap, with no results.
OMG as I wrote that last sentence, I just got bitten AGAIN! On my upper left thigh, underneath my shorts!
Back to the story:
Last night, I found this forum (or blog?), and the similarities between your stories and mine were striking. Then when I went to bed, guess what I found on my bed? A carpet beetle. I put it into a container, and looked it up this morning. It’s either an ornate or glabrous beetle.
So my story is just beginning, and it may still turn out to be fleas, but I’m not so sure of that anymore. All I really know for sure it what it ISN’T; not spiders, not ticks, not flies, not mosquitoes. I will be treating the cats for fleas with Advantage, and see what happens (tomorrow is payday, and I will order it then). If it doesn’t work, I’ll have another piece of negative information to work with. I will keep you posted (pun intended).
Oh, I almost forgot! When I was tearing my dresser apart to spray it with rubbing alcohol (still thinking bed bugs at that point), I found a cast skin. When I looked it up, it was a carpet beetle larva skin.

PS~
I will also be continuing the washing and bagging, vacuuming, and everything else, like putting my shoes and purse in the freezer.

PPS~
It’s also not lice.

Found bugs on window sills in my bathroom, bedrooms, and living rooom, which I have identified as black carpet beetles from on-line photos. I have found one or two everyday on the bathroom walls or floor. A few days ago I was sitting on my couch and one crawled on my face! Last week I shaved my upper legs before putting on my bathing suit and saw what I thought was an ingrown hair in my groin area. I got a tweezer and yanked it really hard and a cardboard like object was on the tweezer. My Mom said it looked like the same shape as the beetles in the bathroom. After reading these posts I realized that the carpet beetles left it embedded in my skin. I vacuumed everything and sprayed the window sills with windex, but I realize from these posts that I need to do much more to prevent an infestation, or stop one if it already exists.

I have these carpet beedles for a year now. they are all over mattress and in couch. When I go to sleep at night they are all over me. I tried teatree oil which I think is helping a bit as I have an allergic reation to them. They are even in my toilet paper, underside of furniture. They are in my artificial plant. Eating my leather couch and mattress..threads are broken of hanging out. in my clothes ad shoes. Stayed at a hotel one night with clothes on my back. I could feel them in the bed there. I don’t know if they can smell the other bugs on me (had shower) or in clothes I was wearing. put killer dust along baseboards and windowsills.
I have thought a lot about moving and leaving everything behind. they seem to come out at night more so.
Had my house spray 3 times and still have them, so it doesn’t work.
I sweep the hardwood floors a lot and baseboards then throw them in toilet so they don’t come back. From what I have read the larva hairs are stinging my body, the seem to go for the feet and legs, but do have stings on neck even.
My clothes are mostly all in plastic bags with de dust. I am hoping it kills the CB. I have thrown lots of stuff out, couch and mattress might be next.
They get into papers plastic, everything, I have even found them in my frig.
Good luck to all of us. Also the daytime seems to be better.

well it’s night time again and I am going crazy with stings and static. I am a wreck. my left leg is starting to have muscle spasms I think, because of the stinging. I can feel the bugs jumping on my legs from the knee down. I am ready to move again. don’t think the tea tree oil is working. this is so stressful, I am a clean freak, but I cannot seem to get a handle on this cb problem.
what a nightmare. they are in my car as well. I put the fan on today and a few blew out. not sure what the larve is…does it come after egg is hatched.
when I vaccum I feel them still as soon as I am finished.
the only time I am positive is in the morning when they seem to be not as bad.
has anyone gotten rid of these horrible bugs. help

Homelesscat, sorry to read about your infestation. Yesterday I took my bed apart and found a few carpet beetles on my bed sheets and it looks like they left cast off skin on my bed skirt. The cast off skin looks exactly like what was embedded in my upper leg. Maybe my leg brushed against the hard skin while it was laying on my fitted sheet? I called a pest control company that treated my house last year for wasps and told them about the beetles, but the rep told me that carpet beetles don’t act like that and they are probably dust mites. I called another pest control company and was told they are definitely carpet beetles! One company told me that all they can do is spray for beetles, she said I might have birds nests underneath the aluminum siding which attracts the beetles and brings them in the windows, but it costs thousands of dollars to remove them! At this point I am going to pay for a $75 inspection and go from there.

Some web sites say once carpet beetle larvae turns into an adult beetle it does no damage so spraying the adults with chemicals does no good, it is the larvae that needs to be cleaned away. I would think if the adult carpet beetles are laying eggs, they do need to be chemically eliminated, or am I misunderstanding something?

JoAnne, thanks for responding.
I had the bug identified by orkin, they said it was carpet beedle larvae and sprayed three times, couldn’t get rid of it. I am at the end of the rope, well close. you get to the point that u don’t know what to do.
I keep looking through site on internet. I found one and sent an email to them and the person said to send sample (by the way it was in Texas) a week later she responded by email saying it was a bird mite. I have a lot of black specs on my couch when I use a sticky lint brush. Check your legs, all over for any little redbumps on your skin. Sometimes its hard to tell as we have blemishes, but try it. have hardwood flooring..use lint brush on floor after doing part of couch to see is there is any there..yes there is. read up on bird mites, I believe they get into everything. I thought about getting a zapper for inside house, but I am not sure if they fly. most companys don’t know too much about carpet beedles or mites as far as that goes. they tell me to see a doctor, think I am nuts.
if u have bird nest u might just have bird mites. they do eat off of humans, I found this black speck embedded in my arm this a.m. they do sting at time. they also get into my underwear. I always wash myself after bowl movement, as I think they like the smell (don’t mean to be rude). I don’t even sleep on my mattress, it is brand new. tried it once or twice and they are all over my legs and feet especially. my couch is the same. I stayed at a hotel a couple times, once with clothes on my back.but I was invaded there as well, but not to the extent at home.
I bought bug spray and sprayed my legs and feet as they seem to be attacking them the most so I got some sleep last night. I am getting ‘skin so soft’ from avon. it’s supposed to keep insects at bay. its worth a try.
dust mites u cannot see. .bird mites u can
it work hurt to go into different sites and read up about them. get confusing sometimes. they say vaccum over and over, I just did and laid on my couch and they were all over my legs. if I were u I would throw out carpets if you have any or have them drycleaned, but I would put them back into your home. declutter if you can. are they in your clothes. they get into pills blankets, sheets, they hide underside of my desk and furniture.
I put killer dust (like Diatomaceous earth) in the baseboard cracks, seemed to help a bit I think, I don’t even know anymore.
at night it is worse. I sweep a lot ..right into dustpan and I got a lot of these bugs.
can u feel them in your bed?
how long have u had them to your knowledge?
are they in your clothes, shoes, car?
carpet beedle larvae can sting, I think its from the hard skin, causes an allergic reation to the skin.
I think carpet beedles and bird mites are very hard to get rid of. hopefully they don’t follow u to work.
this infestation is wearing me out…and driving me insane..i really think the stress of it all can eat away at the immune system.

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading the comments here with interest. I am going through a carpet beetle infestation and it is just terrifying me.

The short version is: a year ago I moved into a new house. The place had not been vacuumed in a long time from the look of it. My housemate and I spent ages cleaning the place up, we thought it was fine. In my bedroom, my bed is against the wall and is extremely heavy so it can’t easily be moved. I vacuumed all around it as much as possible, but figured surely the previous occupants looked after the room because it was a child’s bedroom, I thought it was ok.

About a month ago I noticed a musty smell from somewhere behind the bed. Could not understand what it would be. Then noticed some carpet beetles on my bedroom curtain. I killed them, thought no more of it. Got the vacuum cleaner out, cleaned ferociously. But the more I cleaned, more and more of them appeared. I’m killing so many every day. They are on the windowsill but they are on the bed and I woke up one day and one was on my pillow by my face. Our vacuum cleaner has broken so I have to wait for a new one to be delivered. The beetles are all ‘adults’, and I am terrified by reading online that each adult can lay up to 60 eggs, often far away from where they like to congregate (near my window), so I’m scared that they are laying clothes in my bed and in my clothes. I found some in my housemate’s bedroom too and elsewhere in the house.

I’m going to hire someone to come and try help me move the bed – it is so heavy nobody else can get there and I think what if they are all behind there? So if I did vacuum behind there and spray bugspray would it stop the problem?

I also wonder if someone could give me advice: is it possible that these beetles can remain dormant for several months? Because I really am wondering if they were there when the previous tenants were living there, and because I have ‘disturbed’ them by trying to vacuum behind the unmoveable bed, is that why they are now coming out? Cos I honestly never saw them before last month. And if so, would I have grounds to complain to my landlord and get him to pay for an exterminator?

It is making me miserable. I feel itchy all the time, I don’t know if it’s cos I’m allergic to them or I’m just so hyped up about this that I get itchy automatically. I’m afraid because I have friends coming to stay in a few weeks, what if they see the beetles and think I’m really unhygeinic? I just want one day where I don’t find a carpet beetle in my room or on my bed.

Hi Miranda, I am infested as well. thought it was carpet beedles, now I think it could be birdmites.
have u had the insect id with a reputable entomologist? you have to know exactly what it is, otherwise sprays would not work. also if u have an infestation you probably need to have a pest control person come in. hopefully it didn’t come from another apt. who knows if you disturbed them, who knows about all this stuff. I had never heard of these until I had/have them. I’ve tried everything and nothing really worked, but id is important. you really need to know for sure. I feel especially at night static on my legs (wears shorts). I decided to use a sticky lint roller and caught bugs..disgusting.
go to ‘bedbugs.co.uk’ they have a forum to sign in, they will send u a password.
they have a lot of people on there and ideas, its free. it’s a lot bigger and response are faster.
good luck

Hi homelesscat and everyone,

The exterminator came and confirmed carpet beetles, gave me glue traps for monitoring, and told me he would come back and spray if many beetles were found in the traps. It has been a little over a week, and each windowsill glue trap in four rooms has two or three dead ones, I see a few more dead ones outside the traps. The carpet beetles I found on my bed sheets are probably from my window because my mattress is right below it. The good news is the exterminator has never seen a carpet beetle infestation in my area (NYC suburb), so I am wondering if infestations are more prevalent in warmer climates, I only starting seeing them when the warmer spring weather started in NY last month. The exterminator checked my house inside and out, gave me some tips on how to improve some things to avoid unwanted pests, and will come back to spray for bees/yellow jackets at my request. He said I was very lucky not to have rodents, termites, etc. I was very impressed with him wanting to monitor the carpet beetle situaion slowly, and not pressuring me to pay for treatment. Uh, ho, I just plugged in my tablet in the surge protector and a carpet beetle crawled out from under it, the protector is on my wood floor, maybe I should get sprayed to avoid more of them coming in.

“these guys pop up all over the place and they usually munch on some fibers and take off. You won’t notice holes in clothing or anything, the amount of they eat is practically microscopic”

Is this definitely the case with the stripey ones? Those are the ones that have infested my house, I find them everywhere and kill loads every day and vacuum but they still keep coming back. And I’m worried that all my clothes will get eaten by them