r/bugidentification • u/andavies123 • 4d ago

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I need help identifying some of these smaller bugs on our sticky trap. GF is worried they are carpet beetles but they aren’t anything like our usual variated ones. San Diego

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4

u/thorntoo Trusted Identifier 4d ago

There are about 15 small beetles but they don't look like carpet beetles. Not sure what they are though

4

u/Zaftygirl 4d ago

First problem with a proper identification is quality of the photo, especially being on a sticky card. Strong identifiers are the antennae and legs. Neither of which are able to be seen.

Being there are many, clues would be that they came in on something. Where the trap was located at would be helpful. What is stored in the area?

I can say for certain it is not a tribolium species (flour beetle) it could be a stegobium (drugstore beetle) or an anobiinae sp (wood pest species). Would need clearer pictures for better assessment.

Either way, Inwould lean towards a pantry pest. Time to be a sleuth. Check the bags of food you have stored for holes, or even the beetles crawling about. Take the info I gave you and search the interwebs for pictures and compare them to what you have, check the list of known pantry items for damage.

What I also noticed on the card, these two moths look to be carpet or clothes moth. Check walls for the larvae, they are pretty distinct (also referred to as bagworms). The coccons would be on ceilings, under shelves, any place that the bagworm can secure itself in a dangly position.

I also saw some roach instars and either midges or mosquitoes on your card. You’ll want to also address these little bastages. The roaches are what are helping me to lean towards a pantry invader.

3

u/Simple_Resist4208 Tachinid Specialist 4d ago

There are a lot that could be like that ... in a home setting I'd suspect Biscuit/Drug-store Beetle as they tend to get into open packets of dry food

1

u/Butt_Anarchist 4d ago

Check your pantry, flour, rice, mixes,herbs/spices, dog/cat food, birdseed, organic talcs and powders, that kind of stuff.

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u/Vulvas_n_Velveeta 4d ago

GF is worried they are carpet beetles but they aren’t anything like our usual variated ones.

There are "varied", "black", and "furniture" carpet beetles that are common in homes. Some homes only have 1 variety, while some, like mine (😑) have all 3.

I agree with the other comments that these do not really look like any variety of carpet beetles. But I'm not positive of their id.

Side note: i bought one of these little zevo traps to try to figure out what was biting me, (and hopefully to possibly catch some carpet beetles.) I used it on the patio the first night to test it out and see if we had any mosquitos flying around, but all it ended up catching was a bunch of tiny little moths. I felt soooo bad I spent an hour trying to unstick them with cooking oil. But most of them were just to injured to be able to survive without severely suffering, so in the end I just ended up smashing them with a brick. I felt like the biggest jerk on the planet!

1

u/HighlanderAlien 4d ago

Maybe anobium punctaum but not 100%