Fur beetle

(Attagenus pellio)

Biology:

The fur beetle, which belongs to the dermestid beetles family, grows up to 5 mm long. It is black-brown in colour and has an elongated white dot on each of its wing covers. The larvae, which are up to 12 mm long and golden yellow to reddish-brown in colour, have flat-lying hairs and a very long bristle tail. The beetles are native to Germany and look for flowers so that they can eat the pollen (maturation feeding).

In terms of appearance, lifestyle and damaged caused, the black carpet beetle (Attagenus piceus), which is uniformly black to brown in colour, corresponds to the fur beetle.

 

Damage:

In nature, the fur beetle is one of the types of creature which ensures that mummified animal carcasses are eliminated with their fur. However, in human environments, they cause material damage.

Damage is caused predominantly by the larvae when they chew holes and eat the hairs on furs, carpets, fabrics and blankets. They chew the fur hairs from the base, meaning that they fall off in tufts.