Variegated Carpet Beetle Anthrenus verbasci
The Variegated Carpet Beetle is a small beetle with, as its name indicates, a variegated pattern
- not always immediately visible due to its small size.
It is a domestic pest species since its larvae eat fibres including clothes, carpets,
furnishings, book bindings and museum display items. Its job is to recycle debris.
It is only some 3mm length (the above scale is half mm). Its patterns vary.
This one, on a white rose in the garden, seems to have a false face on its rear end.
The underside is well-protected (carpeted). The adult is winged and will fly in open windows to lay eggs.
It is the tiny, hairy larvae that do the damage.
