Black Carpet Beetle

Attagenus unicolor · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Dermestidae

Can damage your home. The black carpet beetle can damage carpets, furniture and clothing in the home.

Source: Wikipedia

Black Carpet Beetle
Photo: Поляков Александр, CC BY

Adult black carpet beetles are tiny, 3 to 5 mm long and become completely black in color. The larvae feed on natural fibers and can ruin carpets, upholstery and clothing, making them a serious household pest.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Adults turn fully black, which is why they are called black carpet beetles.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults measure about 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in) in length.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

Both adults and larvae can be serious pests inside homes. Larval feeding damages carpets, furniture and clothing.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Females lay eggs in dark, undisturbed spots where larvae can later feed on carpet or clothing.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae eat natural fibers such as wool, silk, fur, and feathers, damaging household textiles. Adults rarely feed, but may consume flower pollen outdoors; they do not eat indoors.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

They undergo complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa, then adult.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Black Carpet Beetle photo 3
Photo: Ken Kneidel, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), Public domain
Black Carpet Beetle photo 4
Photo: Tobias 67, CC BY-SA
Black Carpet Beetle photo 5
Photo: Tobias 67, CC BY-SA
Black Carpet Beetle photo 6
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY

Questions people ask

How can I tell if I have a black carpet beetle problem?

Look for tiny black adult beetles and damage to natural-fiber items such as carpet, upholstery or clothing.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Dermestidae)

Varied Carpet BeetleVaried Carpet BeetleAnthrenus verbasciCan damage your homeLarder BeetleLarder BeetleDermestes lardariusCan damage your homeBuffalo carpet beetleBuffalo carpet beetleAnthrenus scrophulariaeCan damage your homeFurniture Carpet BeetleFurniture Carpet BeetleAnthrenus flavipesCan damage your homeWarehouse BeetleWarehouse BeetleTrogoderma variabileCan damage your homeGold Spot-row-band-dot Carpet BeetleGold Spot-row-band-dot Carpet BeetleAttagenus pustulatus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_carpet_beetle

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.