Now that the temperatures have risen above freezing, we find small, gray critters everywhere on the walls. They are in random places on the plaster or plaster ceiling, not really close to each other. We also can’t find where they would come from, they are suddenly there. If a lamp is lit for a long time, we see that more insects start appearing there. I kill them every day, but today I found about 20 in our living room and about 30 upstairs. They are about 2mm in size. What kind of critters are these, and are they harmful to health? How do I get rid of it?
Answer
Hi Ruben, this is a larva of a Spector or Museum Beetle (species cannot be determined). The spectacled beetles and museum beetles are a series of species that all live on dead tissue that may be completely dry. That is why they are found in homes and in museums on objects that contain animal materials, and certainly on stuffed animals that have not been perfectly prepared. Some tendon or muscle tissue left behind, but even the tanned hide (ie leather), is edible for them. Museum beetles also appear in dried insects from an insect collection; they eventually eat them completely empty so that the insect disintegrates in tatters. In other words: a guest you would rather not find at home.
fg,
Dominick
Answered by
drs. Dominick Verschelde
Biology, Zoology, Marine nematology, Systematics and taxonomy
http://www.ugent.be
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