Question: In the past week I've seen roughly a dozen small insects that
fly and when they are stationary they look like rodent droppings. Plus,
they have a hard shell. Do you recognize what they might be? Why I'm
seeing them in January in Columbus, OH? How to get rid of them? Thank
you.
ANSWER Probably what you have found is one of the several carpet beetle species that can occur in houses. The most common of these is the furniture carpet beetle, Anthrenus flavipes. This is a small beetle (a little larger than the head of a pin), that is somewhat oval in shape and has a mixture of black and gray patches. It is characterized by moving very slowly, and rolling over as if dead when touched. The larvae of these beetles have brown bands and long 'hairs' at the end of their body. The adults are most often seen on walls moving very slowly. They are active in summer and relatively inactive in the winter.
Carpet beetles are among the most common household pests. They can feed on a wide variety of things, from wool, leather, and other animal products to noodles and flour, meal, and other stored food and plant products. This feeding habit also makes them difficult to control. They can infest almost ant part of a house.
The best control strategy is to do a thorough vacuuming of the suspected infested sites. Then do a thorough cleaning. This includes looking for all the material that could be infested. In the kitchen, discard all infested food packages. In the bedroom, if there are infested woolen garments, dry clean and store carefully.
An insecticide application on the outside foundation can help prevent adult beetles from coming into the house.
