The varied carpet beetle from their name feed on natural fibers when they are in larval form such as wools silks fur and carpets.
Carpet beetles compared to bed bug.
Differences between bed bugs and carpet beetles.
The good news is that this means carpet beetles don t bite humans.
One big difference between bed bugs and carpet beetles that can help you determine which pest you re dealing with is that bed bugs go through an incomplete metamorphosis while carpet beetles go through a complete metamorphosis.
The difference here is that bed bugs have a mouth made for piercing skin and sucking blood while carpet beetles have a mouth made for chewing on plants and other fibrous material.
About 1 5 inch long.
So what is the difference between bed bugs and carpet beetles.
Bed bugs are in the family cimicidae while carpet beetles are in the family dermestids.
What this means is that bed bugs have no larval stage.
They feed on items composed of wool fur silk etc.
Bed bugs measure of an inch long.
Compare carpet beetle vs bed bug.
The cockroaches are not blood suckers and they are not known to even bite human beings.
The results are typically the same though because the person will have red blotches and itchy skin from these nasty insects.
The body of the cockroach is such that the nymphs are cylindrical as compared to the bed bugs that are about an inch longer.
What do bed bugs look like.
The carpet beetle and bed bug not only leave similar looking bites but there are other similarities.
Bed bugs are type of insects that feed on human blood.
Reddish brown flattened and oval in shape.
The second difference and the biggest nuisance is the fact that bed bugs feed on human blood while carpet beetles feed on animal fibers.
Carpet beetles on the other hand measure between 1 16 of an inch and 1 8 of an inch long.
The color of the nymph ranges from mahogany dark to a hue color.
Dark protruding eyes and wing like structures on either side of the head.
You ve noticed that carpet beetles length varies a lot while bed bugs are always the same length.
The biggest difference is in size.
The first notable difference is that of size as bed bugs are twice as big as carpet beetles.
They are similar in appearance and size in a very great way.
However the carpet beetle is the smallest of the two and averages 1 8th of an inch in length while the bed bug is about 1 4th of an inch long.
People often make the mistake of thinking that carpet beetles have invaded their home when they re really bed bugs or baby cockroaches just to give you an example.
Also once magnified the varied carpet beetle larvae actually look like tiny furry caterpillars with little spines on them whereas the bed bug larvae look like little worms.
What are carpet beetles.
