Anthrenus verbasci, an adult varied of carpet beetle, is black and about 1/10 of an inch long. On its wing covers, it has an irregular pattern of white, brown, and dark yellow scales. The beetles take on a solid brown or black appearance as the scales that make up this pattern wear off in older adults.
Female beetles look for places to lay their eggs outdoors, such as bee, wasp, or spider webs. Dead insects, pollen, feathers, beeswax, and other debris can be found in these nests and webs, which can be used as food for larvae. Beetles lay their eggs on or in close proximity to wool carpets and rugs, woolen goods, animal skins, furs, stuffed animals, leather book bindings, feathers, animal horns, whalebone, hair, silk, dried plant products, and other materials that can be used as food for their larvae. Adults typically appear in early summer or spring; They are frequently found near windows in the interior.
The dense hair tufts that cover mature larvae make them slightly longer than adults. They form a round plume out of these tufts when disturbed. They are distinguished from other carpet beetle larvae by being broader in the rear and narrower in the front, and they have alternating light and dark brown stripes.
The average number of 40 eggs laid by various carpet beetles is 10 to 20 days after hatching. Before pupating, the larvae live for 220 to 630 days. They emerge as adults 10 to 13 days after becoming pupae. Adult female varied carpet beetles live from two to six weeks, while adult males only live from two to four weeks.
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