Insect Quiz April, 2005

April Quiz 2005

One sunny spring afternoon, you find a moderate-sized beetle walking across the carpet in your living room.   It is black with a cream-colored band across its wing covers.   You haven't seen any other insects like it in your home.   A quick inspection doesn't reveal any obvious damage.

1. What is this insect?

This is a larder beetle, a relative of carpet beetles and cabinet beetles.   Adult larder beetles are between 1/4 and 1/3 inch long, oval and black.   They possess a cream-colored band, some people refer to it as a saddle-shaped marking, across its wing covers with three black dots on each side of its back.   They have fairly short, clubbed antennae, i.e. the last several segments of the antennae are enlarged.

2. What does this insect eat?

Larder beetles are scavengers and are known to feed on high protein foods, including animal hides and furs, feathers, dead insects, cured meats, like ham and bacon, dry pet food, and cheese. Probably their most common food source in homes is dead insects, like cluster flies, that have accumulated in wall voids.   Fortunately, they are not interested in flour, pasta, or other grain-based food products.

3. Does the presence of this insect indicate an infestation?

It is not uncommon to find a few larder beetles in your home during spring.   They spend the winter outdoors as adults.   As the weather starts to warm up, they start to look for food, entering homes through cracks and small spaces as they search.   If this is the only larder beetle you have found, it is unlikely that you have an infestation.   However, if you start to find larger, persistent numbers of larder beetles, including the hairy, worm-like larvae, that is evidence of a food source in your home.

4. What is the best control for this insect.

If you find just a few larder beetles, the only necessary control is to remove and dispose of these insects by hand.   If there is evidence of an infestation, i.e. numerous, persistent numbers of larder beetles, especially if larvae are present, then inspect your home for a food source.   Check dry pet food, hides, and similar foods throwing out any infested material.   If the source of the infestation is dead insects or a dead animal, there isn't any practical method to remove the food source and control the larder beetles.

Insecticides are normally not suggested for larder beetle control. As long as a food source is present, larder beetles will continue to be a pest and insecticides will not solve the problem. Once the food source is eliminated, the larder beetles will go away on their own.