The best way to tell carpet beetle damage from clothes moth damage is to look for shed skins left behind by carpet beetle larvae.
What do carpet beetle larvae skins look like.
You will notice shed skins that look like little shells.
Although the biting of carpet beetles can cause bad symptoms on your skin actual dermatitis comes from a skin allergy that you have to these beetles.
These light brown empty skins remain behind and can accumulate in areas where larvae are feeding.
They are usually brown or tan and have white and tan stripes on their bodies.
Where do carpet beetles live.
Their larvae are grublike and covered with hairs.
Depending on the specific species they can be tapered like a carrot or oval in shape.
Carpet beetle larvae grow up to 1 4 of an inch in length.
Seeing these around your home is one sign of an infestation.
The larvae have to molt several times in order to grow.
They could just crawl on your skin and their hairs will cause it to have an allergic.
As noted earlier carpet beetle larvae feed on animal based materials especially wool felt fur silk feathers and leather.
Their old skins split down the back much like a cicada nymph s shell and the larvae work their way out.
Carpet beetle larvae molt or shed their skins several times as they grow.
However carpet beetles obviously cause carpet beetle dermatitis because that is where the name comes from.
They may look mottled with black brown and white or be solid black depending on the species.