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Sticker of Banded black carpet beetle
Bug card No. 0264 of 4,939

Banded black carpet beetle

Attagenus fasciatus

The banded black carpet beetle is a small dark beetle that likes to live near people. It has travelled almost all over the warm parts of the world. One of its nicknames is the wardrobe beetle, because it may sneak into cupboards.

Lives in
North America, Europe, Australia and the warm parts of almost the whole world
Top speed
about 0.5 km/h (0.31 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It cannot sting, but it can nibble holes in woolly clothes.
What does it eat?
Carpet beetle larvae nibble dry things such as wool, fur and old seeds. Its nickname tobacco seed beetle tells you it even likes dried seeds.
For real!Photo of Banded black carpet beetle
Picture by Caroline Harding, MAF. CC BY 3.0 au, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives in so many countries that scientists call it nearly cosmopolitan, which means found almost everywhere.

2

It has three names: banded black carpet beetle, tobacco seed beetle and wardrobe beetle.

3

It belongs to the carpet beetle family, small beetles whose larvae clean up dry leftovers.

you asked

Most asked questions about Banded black carpet beetle

?Is the banded black carpet beetle dangerous?

No. It cannot bite or sting people, but its larvae can damage woolly things.

?Where does the banded black carpet beetle live?

In warm places almost all over the world, often in and around houses.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Attagenus fasciatus
Group
Beetles
Family
Dermestidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Dermestidae
Lives on
North America, Europe, Australia and Oceania, Asia, Africa, South America
Also known as
Tobacco seed beetle, Wardrobe beetle

Where the facts come from

  1. Attagenus fasciatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Caroline Harding, MAF. CC BY 3.0 au, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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