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On the windowsill this week . . .

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 10:58 am
by bankst
We've had a mini-outbreak of these beautiful little beetles at our office building in Runcorn - fortunately not at home - for they are Varied Carpet Beetles, Anthrenus verbasci, dreaded by natural history museums, collectors of clothes, musical instruments, or anyone with carpets. The larvae, referred to as 'woolly bears' feed on natural fibres, fur, skin and dead insects. I can't think why they've turned up in our work canteen - it has vinyl floors and has never contained anything remotely edible!

Re: On the windowsill this week . . .

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:52 pm
by OliVDB5590
Oh, I remember these, I ran into these little guys last year when I was accompanying a client who wanted to check out and, in the long term, buy a villa in England from these, it was quite the task to make him understand that bugs were a normal appearance in the countryside and that it didn't mean that the house was bad :lol:

Re: On the windowsill this week . . .

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:45 pm
by DonSten
Anthrenus verbasci is quite active in the spring and frequently found in buildings after flying in through windows.
They can also indicates a problem elsewhere in a building - beetles emerge from wherever the larvae fed then try to get out of the building. Spilt food by the way can be attractive to Dermestidae if it contains protein.

Best
Don