One of our reader’s found a worm-like creature on his bathroom floor. He took pictures and a video and sent it to us. Because of its shape and the tuft of hairs at the end of its body, it is more than likely a black carpet beetle larva.

Here is the picture:

The black carpet beetle is in the family of Attagenus unicolor. They are very different and distinct from other types of carpet beetles. The full sized larvae can grow fairly large and are usually very shiny and smooth with short hairs all over their bodies. They have a tuft of very long hairs at the end of their bodies. This is what makes us think that our reader has black carpet beetles in his home.

Black carpet beetle larvae feed generally in dark places and on wool, silk, fur, pet hair, and dust around the house. They do not like synthetic fibers and sometimes they will even feed on spices and grains.

Carpet beetle larvae are one of the more common pests that you could have in your home and our reader is now experiencing this. These larvae are great at finding food in the home and sometimes, that means destroying furniture, flooring, and clothing. They move around constantly once they have taken out one food source completely.

If our reader keeps his home as clean as possible, these larvae will have to find a food source elsewhere. By cleaning up all of the dust and dirt in his home, they will start leaving immediately.