Do Carpet Beetles Eat Paper

Carpet beetles eat in the dark.

Do carpet beetles eat paper.

Obviously carpet beetles will also eat through the fabrics in your home. Things like dead insects hair dander rugs clothing furs furniture leather and more are high quality food for these scavengers. These beetles in larval stage will eat almost anything as long as it s of plant or animal origin. Carpet beetles don t eat paper or synthetic carpet.

Carpet beetles can be found both indoors and out but prefer dining on dried protein while inside. These types of materials carpet beetles routinely feast on include wool felt leather silk fur and feathers. With their rounded bodies and short antennae carpet beetle adults somewhat resemble common lady beetles in shape but are much smaller in size. These beetles may also eat synthetic fabrics if they are soiled with food or oils.

Their feeding creates large isolated holes in the fabric. You ll be able see damage on bed sheets linens clothing drapes and of course carpet. Although carpet beetle larvae do not make webs as clothes moths do their shed skins and fecal pellets which are about the size of a grain of salt make it obvious where they have been feeding. Carpet beetles congregate wherever animal fibers can be consumed.

They feed on organic matter they are probably just moving about and getting into the papers rather than feeding on them. Choose synthetics when shopping for furniture carpets and interior fabrics. They do feed on animal hair so if you have pets it s just another reason to get out the vacuum and the boric acid powder more often. Since they eat organic products exclusively it might do you good to choose something that is made from synthetic materials rather than organic.