Carpet Beetles: Bed Bug Paranoia spawns cleaning frenzy

bugman

February 3rd, 2010 at 9:15 am

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So you think you’ve got bedbugs? Don’t jump the gun.
February 3, 2010
Dear Bugman,
Thank you for just being you. This is a wonderful blog. I will spare you my gushing, but suffice it to say that this experience has turned me from a bug hater to a bug enthusiast! Here’s my little story:
I was doing a little(overdue) cleaning under my bed last Sunday, and pulled out a cotton sock that had little bugs on it. I admit, I panicked. I found more in and on a broken umbrella that I meant to throw away, and immediately ran to bag those things and put them outside. I have noticed that bedbugs have been getting a lot of press these days, so I assumed that’s what they were. I completely flipped out and commenced to cleaning my whole room top to bottom, baseboards first. I found another smaller nest of them under/behind st of drawers on a couple of cotton balls in a little nest of cathair, human hair, and dust. I have two cats that live indoors, so my bedroom had quite a bit of cathair on the floor. Gross, I know, but these bugs were loving it I guess. It’s like a Vegas buffet in there!
Anyway, I did a lot of internet research after I flipped out (bagging my mattresses and boiling my sheets) and began to think that maybe I had something that’s not a bedbug.
I hadn’t gotten any real bites that I was aware of, but I deduced the ‘bedbugs’ must be feeding off my cat, Prissy, who happens to have a bald, itchy belly right now. I also found one, lone bug between my boxpring and mattress. I found a few more around the plastic reinforcing corner on my boxspring. That was my confirmation that I needed to evacuate. Besides that, I was itching like crazy just thinking about them.
Today I finally found a few that I had not yet dispatched (sorry) so we had a little photoshoot. They are either very sleepy or dead, because the ones that were not just casings (or skeletons) don’t move a lot that I can tell.
While I was under my chest of drawers (also wood, like my headboard, and used) I saw a brighter, more active bug with orangey black striped/spotted wings. Again, I was freaking when I saw that, so into the trash it went.
After I looked at the pictures I took, I thought I may have carpet beetle larvae instead of the dreaded bedbug. I am praying that you can confirm this! Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work.
Jen in TN
Pulaski, Tennessee, USA (Mid-South USA)

Carpet Beetle Larvae

Good Morning Jen,
It must give you such pleasure to awake in such a clean bedroom. If only we would be similarly inspired to thoroughly clean our own room, we would probably find some Carpet Beetle Larvae as well. Goodness knows how many we would find in our own cat’s favorite hiding place in the back of the closet. You are correct that these are Carpet Beetle Larva. We wanted to direct your attention to another letter from our archives, and we couldn’t locate it, so we are transferring the information from our old computer to the new computer and reposting as it seems to have gotten lost in the site migration. Thanks so much for your highly entertaining contribution.