Do Carpet Beetles Climb Walls

Under magnification you can see that they are calico colored carpet beetles.

Do carpet beetles climb walls.

In early spring especially they head to light so you may see small dark dots on light colored walls. Early spring is the time of year that we start getting calls about these guys and they are usually first found crawling up walls. Tiny beetles slowly climbing walls or dead at windowsills. Also different than the larval stage the adult beetles are attracted to light when they emerge from the pupal cocoon and that is why they climb walls heading for windows.

Once indoors carpet beetles prefer to live in dark. If there is a cracked window or small crack in your door or wall they will take advantage of that to get. After they molt a number of times the larvae pupate and turn into the adult beetles that you see climbing your walls trying to get outside. Carpet beetles are very tiny little beetles of the order dermestidae.

They won t usually do if they find somewhere else to hide. Bed bugs can climb both walls and ceilings. Carpet beetle larvae eat slits in carpets and feed on the surface of fabrics clipping fibers and creating holes. When adult beetles emerge indoors they have a need to get outdoors where they mate.

If any of these things are located near your home the carpet beetles are more likely going to infest the interior of your property. In homes this usually means the walls and they re usually fairly conspicuous. Strangely enough the adult carpet beetle feeds on pollen and nectar and is common on outdoor plants. The most commonly found form of this insect is its larvae which during their last larval molt tend to climb up flat surfaces.

It could be a bed bug. Perhaps there are other carpet beetle larva around and the reader only noticed the ones on the wall. Though they do live outside they much prefer living indoors near humans where food and shelter are easier to access. This is why the adult beetles are now climbing walls and heading for windows looking for a way to get outside to feed and mate.

Although carpet beetle larvae often stay out of sight staying in corners or under furniture it wouldn t be unusual to see them crawling around on the walls. Let s start by saying that there are over 70. They clip the tips off of fur hair and bristles. Once mated the female carpet beetle avoids light and may move indoors to lay eggs in suitable dark areas.

Normally carpet beetles would mate outside and then when looking for a suitable dark place to lay eggs the female may find her way into a home or may be carried in on cut flowers.