Not everyone knows about the existence of the carpet beetle, which may have already settled in a home and spoils food, furniture and clothing, causing a lot of trouble. In this article, we will take a closer look at what a pest like the carpet beetle is and how to get rid of the carpet beetle in an apartment.
Where do skin beetles come from in an apartment?
The appearance of black and brown bugs in an apartment can be caused by open windows in the premises in the hot summer. And they can cause the appearance of annoying pests called skin beetles. They can get into your home in another way - along with upholstered furniture, carpets, wool and fur items on which they previously lived in an infected room. It’s easy to bring skin beetles into your home, but getting rid of skin beetles on your own is very difficult. Only timely exterminatory and preventive disinfestation can rid you of the presence of pests in your home.
What to do after a skin beetle bite?
Despite the fact that the skin beetle is small in size, its bite is very painful for small children and women. If there is a parasite bite, it is necessary to treat the wound with a disinfectant or hydrogen peroxide and wipe with alcohol. If an inflammatory process occurs, you must immediately seek medical help. To eliminate allergy symptoms, you can use Diazolin or other antihistamines. To make wounds heal faster, they need to be lubricated with a moisturizer. But this method is suitable if the bite site is not infected. If you follow all medical recommendations, there will be no complications.
Harm from skin beetles
Beetle larvae enjoy the remains of plants and animals, and therefore can carry a variety of ailments. Since the skin beetle remains in the larval state for a very long time, it is capable of spreading various viruses over large areas, while infection occurs constantly. A skin beetle bite is considered extremely painful. Depending on the level of sensitivity of a person, his reaction can be quite different. Some people end up with small spots on their skin, while others develop large spots. If you are bitten by a skin beetle, be sure to treat all damaged areas of the skin. Hydrogen peroxide is fine. It is also very important to disinfect the wound with alcohol, as these pests can infect a person with dangerous diseases.
These insects damage almost everything they see (carpets, wool, cloth and fur products, as well as books). You should not give beetles the opportunity to reproduce in the apartment, otherwise they will spread throughout the house. If the skin beetle gets into a warehouse, it will happily begin to eat a variety of food products there. The penetration of these pests into expensive museum exhibits or private collections always ends in failure due to their ability to eat such things. Carpet beetles are the bane of museums and must be eliminated quickly and decisively.
Preventive measures
Simple rules will prevent the arrival of skin beetles. First of all, close the places where insects enter, and pack items made from natural fabrics and fur. Hide bulk products under sealed lids. Treat waste collection areas and pet hair.
Wash clothes regularly, wash floors using a disinfectant or vinegar, and clean carpets with hot steam. Throw away or burn damaged items. Inspect cabinets, inside bedside tables, and the bottom and back of furniture more often.
Why is the carpet beetle dangerous for people?
Once in a human home, carpet beetles become dangerous to human health. By feeding on carrion or waste in landfills, insects carry various types of infections, including helminth eggs. In addition, they bite quite painfully. Both home owners and their pets can be attacked. These little bugs not only infect food with parasites and infections , but in search of food they damage furniture, carpets, furs, wool and silk clothes.
You may quite accidentally see this beetle in your apartment. Carpet beetles do not just spoil various valuable items. They bite! Therefore, they pose a great danger to people and animals . Sometimes quite serious consequences of their bites are possible.
Prevention of occurrence
You can avoid the appearance of skin beetles by taking preventive measures.
Carpet beetles will not appear if:
- Do general cleaning regularly.
- Use a mosquito net.
- Don't let clothes sit in the closet.
- Place lavender , wormwood, tansy, camphor and tobacco around the house.
These measures will make you confident that pests will not choose your home as their habitat and will not spoil your things.
What do skin beetles eat?
Skin beetles in apartments in domestic conditions prefer to use the following as a food source:
- feather,
- leather raw materials,
- book bindings,
- fur,
- glue,
- powdered milk,
- dried fish,
- cheeses.
- Pests can damage certain types of plastics and cardboard.
How can you get rid of skin beetles in an apartment? Black bugs in an apartment can cause enormous harm. From the point of view of causing damage, the carpet beetle is considered a dangerous pest that can quickly render:
- rare museum collections and library funds,
- expensive fur and silk products,
- leather shoes,
- bags,
- grain products in warehouses and elevators.
Interesting information
Getting rid of skin beetles is not so easy, since their life activity includes some peculiarities. For example:
- Adults are active during the day and fly away into the light in the evening, so it is not difficult to deal with them; it is enough to create primitive traps. As for caterpillars, this method is not suitable for destroying them.
- The larvae are afraid of sunlight, so they prefer to hide in dark and hard-to-reach places, which makes them difficult to find.
- These parasites do not tolerate damp conditions well, so regular washing with water will help keep the skin bug out of your home.
- Kozheed beetle larvae are more resistant to the action of special control agents than moths. Therefore, by destroying moths in an apartment, it is unlikely that you will be able to get rid of the skin beetle larvae.
- Caterpillars never rest and constantly move in search of food sources.
Carpet beetle. Hairy insects in the apartment.
What does a leather beetle look like?
The body of beetles can be round, oval or elongated, about 12 mm long and about 5 mm wide. The larvae have a hard cover. Their body is covered with protruding long hairs; sometimes a large tuft of hairs can form a kind of “tail”. The size of the larva is from 1.5 mm to 12 mm in length, and from 0.5 mm to 5 mm in width.
At home, you may encounter a pest in an ordinary jar of flour. The habitat of leather beetles is very extensive. They can be found everywhere except the tundra. The largest populations inhabit areas with a hot, dry climate. Skin beetles are very dry-loving. Therefore, in natural conditions, their habitats are bird nests, burrows of field mice and ferrets, as well as mummified animal corpses. There are several varieties of skin beetle, the main ones are:
- ham (Dermestes lardarius);
- fur (Attagenus pelio);
- brown (Anthrenus fuscus);
- carpet ((Attagenus megatoma Fabricius);
- fur coat (Attagenus pellio Linnaeus), etc.
In nature, these insects perform the function of orderlies. Feeding on the remains of the corpses of animals and birds that were not eaten by other animals and flies, as well as food scraps, carpet beetles rid fields and forests of carrion. The corpses of birds and animals are not only the diet of these insects, but also a breeding ground.
Carpet beetles are capable of completely clearing bones of soft tissue, and this quality is used by people. For example, employees of the Darwin Center at the Museum of London use these insects to clean bones obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and of historical value.
The following types of carpet beetles most often sneak into apartments:
- The carpet beetle is dark brown or black in color, ranging in size from 2.5 to 5.5 mm. It feeds on wool, fur, feathers and skin. Can eat flour products and other plant foods.
- The ham beetle is black in color with yellowish spots. It is larger in size, can reach almost one centimeter. The larvae devour any plant food. Before pupating, they bite into wood or any other accessible surface, causing damage to furniture.
- The spotted leather beetle is brown in color and is approximately the same size as the ham beetle. The diet is similar to other types of skin beetles.
- Smirnov's carpet beetle - small bugs (2-3.5 mm) brown in color. Adults do not feed at all; they live off the reserves accumulated by the larvae. Therefore, the larvae of this bug are especially dangerous.
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Destruction of insects using chemicals
If general cleaning does not produce the desired effect, use radical control methods - insecticides and other toxic compounds. When using them, strictly follow the instructions and observe safety precautions.
Insecticides
Insecticides in the form of sprays, powders, gels or aerosols that contain substances that poison insects (bendiocar, allethrin, chlorpyrifos) will help get rid of pests. You can buy poison at a hardware store.
Procedure for using insecticides:
- Read the instructions carefully and take the recommended safety measures.
- Spray carpet, clothing, and other items where pests are present.
- Pour powdered insecticide into all crevices and hidden corners.
- Do a general cleaning of the apartment.
During treatment, add an insect growth regulator to the base product. The drug will accelerate the development of larvae and their transformation into adults, but such females will not be able to reproduce.
Boric acid
Boric acid is actively used for pest control, due to its availability, effectiveness, and safety for pets and humans. Sprinkle the powder in insect habitats. In pests that have eaten poison, the nervous system ceases to function, which leads to instant death.
When working with insecticides and other toxic compounds, wear gloves and a protective mask to avoid intoxication
Bug traps
Traps will help catch insects and assess the scale of the disaster. They have an adhesive base and a smell that is attractive to insects. Once purchased, place them in potential pest areas. Using traps, you can remove adult individuals, but it will not be possible to completely exterminate leather beetles, so this method is only effective in combination with others.
Anti-moth medications
Drugs designed to kill moths will help you cope with carpet beetles. Easy to use tablets and plates that are placed in the closet, near baseboards and in other potentially dangerous places. These drugs include: “Dezmol”, “Antimol-contact”, “Nimol”.
Moth control products and bags filled with mothballs will help you deal with skin beetles.
It will be effective to use drugs in the form of sprays - “Foxide”, “Chlorax”, “Diphos”, “Morimol”, etc. To destroy adults and larvae, carry out the following treatment:
- Place the affected item in a tight bag.
- Treat the product well with a spray or aerosol.
- Close the bag hermetically and leave for 24 hours at a temperature not exceeding +14 ℃.
- Wash the cleaned product or treat it with a steam generator.
How do skin beetles develop? Kozheed beetle larva
Carpet beetles (females) can lay eggs on the surface of materials, or in crevices of furniture, walls, etc. The period of appearance of a new population is, depending on the temperature of the environment, from 2 to 55 days. Molting of skin beetle larvae occurs at intervals of 5-9 days, about 5-7 times. Before the pupation stage, the larvae can gnaw holes in the substrate 5-10 cm long.
The pupal stage lasts from 4 to 20 days. In their natural habitat, pests produce one generation, but in heated rooms, the carpet beetle can produce four generations per year. At the same time, they can gnaw out passages in those materials that they do not use for food, and thereby cause significant damage to the farm.
In enterprises where animal products are processed, pests can even damage walls.
Appearance of the skin beetle
The insect is considered one of the smallest. The length of its body is 1.3-12 mm. It is quite difficult to detect. The skin beetle has a brown, strong shell of a round or oval shape.
It can also be dark or reddish in color. Small stripes are noticeable on the shell, slightly different in color. This shell is great for camouflage. The body is strewn with villi, with a long tuft in the shape of a tail.
Photo of the skin beetle
How to get rid of the leather beetle in an apartment
In practice, some people use several control methods, for example, freezing at a temperature of -15 ° C - 20 ° C for 10-15 hours, alternating low and high temperatures. But not all skin beetles are susceptible to this method, but only their southern species. A good result can be obtained by heating the contaminated material to 80°C in special heat chambers for 2 hours. This method is applied to materials that are not damaged by high temperatures.
The most reliable results are obtained by exterminatory and preventive disinsection against skin beetles in residential buildings and enterprises , carried out by highly qualified specialists. This type of processing is carried out by specialists from our company.
Processing rules
The drugs used to treat the house are very strong and can harm household members.
To avoid possible negative consequences, you must follow a number of rules:
- All inhabitants of the house, including animals , must leave it during disinfection.
- When spraying poison , windows and doors should be tightly closed, and the walls should be free of furniture.
- After finishing the treatment , the one who carried out it must also leave the house for several hours.
- After the house has been disinfected , all rooms should be thoroughly ventilated and cleaned, but you should only wash those places that you touch with your hands, so that there are few chemicals left for the larvae that may appear.
- Repeated treatment can be done no earlier than after 14 days.
Professional destruction of the leather beetle
To get rid of skin beetles in an apartment forever requires a professional approach:
- destructive agents,
- special equipment,
- special skills and knowledge.
If you don’t know how to get rid of the leather beetle, order the destruction of the leather beetle from our specialized company. Cost from 1700 for a one-room apartment.
Specialists will solve your problem in the shortest possible time. They will treat skin beetles using products that are completely safe for people or animals, protecting your property for a long time.
Chemicals against skin beetle
Powdered boric acid or Borax treatment. The same drugs, in bags, are laid out between clothes on shelves for 4 hours, placed in pockets. It is useful to add "Tetrix" or "Executioner". Then the things should be washed and dried.
From aerosols they are treated with “Dichlorvos”, “Difox” or other spraying agents, applying after 1.5-2 weeks.
Anti-moth preparations are used as an additional remedy.
Use a fumigator.
Using Velcro traps or the pharmaceutical product “Parmethrin”.
How much does it cost to get rid of skin beetles in an apartment? Prices
| Scope of work | Gel treatment* (cockroaches only) | Cold fog | Cold Fog + Barrier | Hot fog | Hot Fog + Barrier | Complex (cold fog+horizontal fog+barrier) |
| 1 room apartment | 3600 rub. | from 2100 rub. | from 2300 rub. | from 2600 rub. | from 3600 rub. | from 4100 rub. |
| 2 room apartment | 4200 rub. | from 2300 rub. | from 2800 rub. | from 3300 rub. | from 4300 rub. | from 5100 rub. |
| 3 room apartment | 5100 rub. | from 2500 rub. | from 3300 rub. | from 3700 rub. | from 4200 rub. | from 5600 rub. |
| 4 room apartment | 5700 rub. | from 2700 rub. | from 3700 rub. | from 4000 rub. | from 4500 rub. | from 6100 rub. |
| 5 room apartment | Negotiable | from 3100 rub. | from 4000 rub. | from 4900 rub. | from 5000 rub. | from 6600 rub. |
| MOP (kitchen, bath, corridor) | 2400 rub. | from 1800 rub. | from 2300 rub. | from 2800 rub. | from 3200 rub. | from 4500 rub. |
| Add. Barrier | from 400 rub. | from 400 rub. | from 400 rub. | from 400 rub. | from 400 rub. | |
| Add. sleeping area | 400 rub. | |||||
| Move the furniture | from 500 rub. | from 500 rub. | from 500 rub. | from 500 rub. | from 500 rub. |
Damage caused by beetles
For a significant portion of citizens, the leather beetle is an unfamiliar insect. Having no idea what this bug looks like, the owners cannot detect its presence in the house.
Smirnov's carpet beetle is a small insect, the length of which is about 5-10 mm. It has a strong brown shell, on top of which there are small stripes that stand out in color. The body has small villi. If you carefully examine the beetles, you will be able to detect a long, small tuft, similar to a tail. There are two most popular types: Smirnov’s leather beetle and ham beetle.
Finding uninvited guests in an apartment is not easy. They are often carried on clothes, shoes, flowers, and pets. They can easily penetrate an unclosed window.
.
These insects are nocturnal inhabitants that are not immediately detectable. Therefore, it is not always possible to take quick measures to exterminate them. As a result, skin beetles manage to lay eggs and gradually begin to capture “new territories.” Usually, owners become aware of the presence of skin beetles only after noticeable passages gnawed by insects begin to appear on furniture items. In addition, bite marks may appear on human skin.
The size of the beetle is small, but the harm from its activities can be serious. In particular:
- Material damage. This is due to the gluttony of insects, which begin to eat everything that, in our opinion, cannot be edible. Furniture, natural and leather fabrics are damaged. Carpets end up with bald spots after beetles. Uninvited guests are able to take a fancy to the sofa, and having made their way into the closet, they will hasten to spoil a significant part of the wardrobe there.
- Harm to the health of people living in the premises. Like all other insects, the skin beetle can provoke an allergic reaction. In addition, the pest can spread infectious diseases and bite strongly. The skin beetle larva is not blood-sucking, so it does not attack people.
The insect bite is usually not felt. There is slight redness in the affected area, and the area may itch. In people with sensitive skin, this redness will be more pronounced. Patients suffering from an allergic reaction also face a similar problem. In addition, swelling often appears at the bite sites.
Important! The carpet beetle is dangerous due to its ability to spread infections. The bite of this insect often causes human infection. Therefore, the affected area must be disinfected.
Thus, if an “unpleasant “neighbor” is found in the house, urgent measures must be taken. Not only adult representatives of this species are subject to extermination, but also larvae and eggs. There are many ways to fight parasites.
Temperature control method
Carpet beetles exhibit sensitivity to sudden temperature changes. Indicators below zero are lethal for these insects. This factor is only beneficial in the fight against parasites. The affected items are taken out into the cold and left there for at least 5 hours.
Important! To achieve the cherished goal, contaminated objects must be kept at a temperature no higher than -15, -20 degrees.
You will need to freeze things more than once, and you will need to alternate with above-zero temperatures. By the way, this method will help get rid of any insects.
Some things are placed in the freezer compartment for several hours. This method will also give the expected result. After freezing, items should be washed in soapy water.
A microclimate with a temperature of +5 degrees Celsius is also destructive for skin beetles at different stages of development. The carpet beetle falls into a state of torpor, stops feeding, and then dies completely.
High temperatures are also contraindicated for this insect. At +60 degrees or more it dies. If the affected materials are resistant to elevated temperatures, then you can get rid of the annoying pest through disinfestation with heated air. The duration of processing is set in accordance with the characteristics of the material properties. So, for example, things made of felt should be processed for 3 hours, no less.
Temperature exposure is an effective method, but does not guarantee a 100% result. To remove insects, an integrated approach is required, combining a similar method with chemical methods.
