Varied carpet beetle
Its bristly larvae, known as woolly bears, can take one to three years to mature depending on conditions.
| Where | Flowers, homes, stored materials |
|---|---|
| Size | 2 to 3.5 mm long |
| When | February to July |
A tiny, almost round beetle covered in scales that form a mottled patchwork of white, brown and yellow.
Adults visit flowers for pollen and nectar, while the larvae live in dark, undisturbed places and feed on animal fibres such as wool, fur, feathers and dried insects.
Traits
Habitat
Towns
Colour
White, Brown, Yellow
Active
Day
To people
Mild
Does not bite, but larval hairs can irritate skin and the larvae damage wool, carpets and collections.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Almost identical in size and pattern; the two are best separated by the number of segments in the antennae rather than by eye.
Questions
Is the Varied carpet beetle dangerous to people?
Mild. Does not bite, but larval hairs can irritate skin and the larvae damage wool, carpets and collections.
When can you see the Varied carpet beetle?
The Varied carpet beetle can be seen from February to July, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Udo Schmidt from Deutschland, CC BY‑SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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Beetles›Carpet beetles›Anthrenus
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.