The varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) is a 3 mm–long beetle belonging to the family Dermestidae
This beetle can be a serious household pest and a pest in natural history museums, where it can damage many biological specimens. While adults are pollen grazers, larvae feed on natural fibers and can damage carpets, furniture, clothing and insects collections.
The larval form is known as a woolly bear, a name it shares with the larvae of Arctia caja and many other moths of the family Arctiidae.
A. verbasci was the first insect to be shown to have an annual circadian rhythm and to date remains a classic example of circannual cycles in animals.
Read more about Varied Carpet Beetle: Identification, Distribution, Interaction With Humans
Famous quotes containing the words varied, carpet and/or beetle:
“The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet.”
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)
“My veins are filled, once a week with a Neapolitan carpet cleaner distilled from the Adriatic and I am as bald as an egg. However I still get around and am mean to cats.”
—John Cheever (1912–1982)
“Ere the bat hath flown
His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-born beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)