What are these bugs in my home?

[CurryandSnuggle]

I seem to have a problem recently of these little brown bugs in my home particularly the rooms with the highest humidity (bathroom and our bedroom). When I clean the house I remove the ones I come across but everyday I seem to see a few on our walls or surfaces. Help! They are very persistent pests and I’ve no idea what they are. I very rarely see any in the kitchen so don’t think they’re biscuit beetles.

Bed bugs

I’m not convinced of bed bugs as we don’t get bitten and I don’t ever see them on the bed. I’m thinking they could be wood worm, they are dark brown almost black and I have seen them on wooden surfaces. I’ve not noticed any holes though.

Anyone else got any experience? Thanks

Google lens says....

Carpet beetle

Hard to tell from your photo though so could be wrong

@Notg i thought carpet beetle but these seem to be plain brown, almost black whereas carpet beetle images on Google show them as being a patchy colour.

@Lifeetc it does look like it. It’s just weird I don’t find them in the kitchen, but if they eat flour and cereals I’d have thought we’d have an infestation in our pantry.

These bugs are a complete mystery!!

I am pretty sure these are woodworm beatles. We have them currently and find them on windowsills. They leave the burrows in May) June. They are unfortunately in our floorboards near the bathroom as they like moist environments.

I know what these are, we had them in our house a couple of years ago. Can't remember what they are called, husband with know but he is asleep snoring next to me. Will ask him tomorrow.
Anyway they are harmless and quite easy to get rid of. Good hoover of carpets or wherever they are, and general wipe over hard surfaces where they are (hoovering mostly obviously). Didn't need any harsh chemicals or anything.

Is your house quite newly built? I heard that new houses often have these little beetles at first but they are easy to get rid of by hoovering as other poster said.

Get a bug bomb off the internet. Cheaper than getting someone in and they usually do the trick.

Have your kids ever made pasta necklaces or bracelets that you've kept?
This was how I had a biscuit beetle infestation. They can come in through an open window and multiply everywhere. I found them in all drawers of a chest of drawers, anywhere near clothes. Had to wash every item and finally found the mostly eaten away years old macaroni tube necklace DD had made for me.

I love how people jump to a single species without the slightest bit of entomological knowledge.

I'm on the app at the moment so zooming is a little tricky but I'd err on furniture beetle.

It's not carpet beetle, as has already been said, these are called variegated for a reason. It's definitely NOT a bedbug. Based on the shape of the thorax. Definitely not a grain weevil, which are also of a similar size. Woodworm (the classic spp), tens to have a more rounded thorax... so I'd be more comfortable with furniture beetle.

Aim for something with permethrin, or similar pyrethroid (look for substances ending in 'thrin') as an active ingredient. These are relatively harmless to humans and pets. They can exhibit have a bit of resistance, so don't give up. The thing with pyrethroids is that insects can survive them in low doses. We had a cabinet with a few and it took a few goes. Look for piles of sawdust gathering outside little holes and aim there.

Sorry for the spelling/grammar mistakes... passenger/potholes :)

@C1N1C thank you, just wondering though, would your opinion change if I said I’ve seen these bugs for at least the last 6 months and they didn’t just come out in May/June? That’s what’s throwing me. Thanks

If you keep the house relatively warm, there's no reason they can't emerge all year round... if you've been seeing them for six months then though, it might be trickier to eradicate them as they're probably in a lot more wood around the house.

I'd need a much closer picture to be sure though. There is a slim chance they're grain beetles, so wouldn't hurt to check the pantry etc... fingers crossed it is actually, they're a lot easier to resolve.

One of the offending items have been found, my son’s stool. I am quite concerned they might be in other furniture items 😫 I’ll try poison first but maybe fumigation if they persist?! We have a wooden unit I keep seeing them on but can’t see any obvious holes.

Yep woodworm, I have them in bathroom floor boards. Even had the area treated and they still came back

Yes, we had those in an old, damp house, pre renovation, when I was a child.

Oh no! I had some of these. From a wooden photo frame I received as a gift. Luckily they didn't seem to have infested anything else by the time we received the product recall.

CurryandSnuggle · Today 13:53

One of the offending items have been found, my son’s stool. I am quite concerned they might be in other furniture items 😫 I’ll try poison first but maybe fumigation if they persist?!#

You can get a paint on treatment, I use it now and then, because the little swines like our garage roof. It's nasty stuff, so use gloves and do it outside, then store it in a shed / garage for a couple of days.

I noticed a couple of beetles before I left on a work trip. I asked my partner to take care of it while I was gone but let's just say that I've just returned home to find the bathroom swarming with them. Literally hundreds.

There are also what I'm guessing to be pantry moth maggots on the walls and ceiling of a bedroom where it seems a visitor left something. I can't see an obvious source of the problem.

I'm having the same biscuit v woodworm beetle dilemma. Lots of the photographs and descriptions on the internet seem to contradict each other. I've checked the eaves and areas for nests and food dropped by birds. I can't see food infested anywhere (and not in the kitchen). But I can't tell the difference (and keep seeing that the beetles can eat books and I have a lot of books - but museums claim that there's a big difference between those beetles and woodworm/furniture beetles).

@C1N1C I just want to leave the house and burn it down (I'm jetlagged) but will permethrin, or similar pyrethroid take care of most of these, please?

@AdelaideBound

It will, but obviously it just takes one pregnant female to lay eggs, so you need to be thorough. Usually only one side of the wood is exposed, and there may be more on the underside etc. Pyrethroids are reasonably safe but I'd still wear gloves and minimise access to the area if you use them.

Thank you. Burning the house down feels preferable at this point but I realise that would be an over-reaction. (It didn't feel that way last night when I looked up and saw the maggots and then one dropped on me followed by brushing my teeth in the bathroom and then realising I'd spat out beetles because they're in my toothbrush and the dental irrigator is full of them.)

I'll treat for woodworm and spray as if I have biscuit beetles and keep looking for a source.

Have found that Indorex pretty much clears any infestation though it's mainly meant for fleas and dust mites