PANTRY AND CARPET BEETLES – A PROBLEM IN HOMES AROUND THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY

Remember when the question was – who was your favorite Beatle – John, Paul, George or Ringo? Now homeowners have to think which beetle is our least favorite – pantry or carpet beetles. Both are nuisance pests inside the home.

The pantry beetles are insects that infest our foods - called stored product pests. Some are in a beetle or weevil form. Pantry Beetles are unknowingly brought in the home and not detected until you see these beetles near a food source.

There are a huge variety of stored product pests known as pantry beetles. Some of the most common are, The Confused Flour Beetle, Red Flour Beetle, Cigarette Beetle, Drugstore Beetle, Sawtooth Beetle, and Merchant Grain Beetle. These beetles feed on a wide range of food products, including pet foods, cereals, cookies, candy, nuts, dried legumes, pastas, spices, potato chips, crackers, dead insects and even dead animals.

To inspect your food pantry first check for open packages and old packages, then move on to the newer packages in your pantry. Leave nothing untouched, as far as a complete inspection. These pantry bugs may live several weeks without a food source so a second inspection is a good idea.

If you are not sure a product is infested or not, quarantine it in a glass jar or Ziploc plastic bag (make sure it is secure) for a month. If you find signs of infestation afterwards, discard it. You must remove the source of infestation in order to be successful. Afterwards, vacuum and clean inside the cabinets, wall edges, and shelving.

The carpet beetle belongs to the family of beetles known as dermestids. They are found in warehouses, homes, museums, and other locations where suitable food exists. There are three species of carpet beetles cause serious damage to fabrics, carpets, furs, stored food, and preserved specimens—the varied carpet beetle, the furniture carpet beetle, and the black carpet beetle.

Some species are known to be associated with decaying carcasses, which helps with criminal investigations. They are also used in taxidermy and by natural history museums to clean animal skeletons.

The adult carpet beetles are attracted to sunlight, and you’ll often find them feeding on the flowers of crape myrtle, spiraea, buckwheat, and other plants that produce abundant pollen. However, you can accidentally bring these pests inside on items such as cut flowers. With their rounded bodies and short antennae, carpet beetles somewhat resemble lady beetles in shape.

Regular and thorough cleaning of rugs, draperies, upholstered furniture, closets, and other locations where carpet beetles congregate is an important preventive and control technique. Frequent, thorough vacuuming is an effective way of removing food sources as well as carpet beetle eggs, larvae, and adults. After vacuuming infested areas, dispose of the bag promptly, because it can contain eggs, larvae, or adult insects.

If you think you already have an infestation call a professional pest control company to take care of your problem – GLOBAL PEST CONTROL in Las Vegas is a licensed pest control company that is qualified to handle all your pest elimination needs. Call our office at 702-657-0091 or go to our web site- to speak with us for all your pest control needs. Get a quote now!

Let us know what’s bugging you….