Do carpet beetle larvae eat cotton please?

[orma]

Hello,


I have read everywhere they eat cotton but there www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ip/ip50/ip50.pdf I read they can't digest cotton...

"Neither the clothes moth nor carpet beetle larva can digest cellulosic fibers (such as cotton, linen, or rayon) or synthetic fibers (such as polyester, nylon, or acrylic) so they generally leave these alone. However, synthetic fabrics that are blended with wool may be eaten along with the wool, even though they are not digested. Cotton, linen and synthetics heavily soiled with food stains or body oils may also be occasionally attacked."

Thanks for your answers!

[klaas]

It isn't that easy. Usually Anthrensu verbasci is in Keratin (hairs of different mammals). But sometimes they also feed cotton, scales, feathers and similar..., even Chitin. I don't know what it depends on. They usually live in any house and live of the parts included in dust behind furnitures and under the bed. Sometimes they make it in the wardrobe and ruin clothes. That's when clothes just lie or hang in the wardrobe and do not get used. Usually wen wear things and wash it. Usually, for example shirts, we wear a day and than it is in the washing. And after a few days or weeks we wear it again and again it is in the washing. Those clothes never get contaminated with Anthrenus, because they get washed to often and because they get worn a lot and are disturting the larvae. The larvae minds the light. So when ever one wears his cloths it keeps Anthrenus away from it.

But for example when winter is over and the woolen Jackets get into the wardrobe and stay there, they have the time to contaminate it and than ruin them. And in this case, I don't know why, it can happen that clothes, which are not made of mammal hairs, get contaminated, too. But they don't really ruin them. They just bite small holes in it and that's it. So if your cotton shirts stay in the wardrobe for a longer time, for any reason, they can get contaminated, because of not getting used and just being there in the darkness of the wardrobe and not getting moved. That can happen to any natural fibres. I didn't see any case in my live where it happened to synthetics.

Best regards
Klaas

[orma]

Hello  ,

Thanks for your answer! (one year later lol). I don't remember seeing it. 

It is indeed strange that the larvae make holes in cotton because cotton bring them no energy at all right?

It is like a bug in their program right?

Also, when the larvae turn into their imago, they will not lay eggs in the house if they don't find a good amount of food for them right?

I saw here and there on the net peoples complaining of having troubles getting rid of carpet beetles.

These peoples were clean, in these cases there was a hidden food source for the carpet beetles right ?

For the imago still choose to lay eggs there.

I wonder how much daily food a larva need to live, how many hair ?

In term of fabric pests, peoples often complain about the clothes moths, but the anthrenus verbasci is worst in my opinion because it seems it is harder to get rid of them. What do you think about this?

Thanks for your answers!