Written by a Zeus Services Certified Technician
We treat both carpet beetle and clothes moth infestations across every London borough, starting with correct identification.
The Damage Pattern Is Your First Clue
Carpet beetle larvae — often called "woolly bears" — tend to graze irregularly across a wider surface area, leaving a patchy, thinned appearance rather than one clean hole. Clothes moth larvae, by contrast, chew more concentrated, distinct holes in a smaller, more localised patch, often through several layers of a folded jumper or blanket at once. If you're seeing widespread thinning rather than discrete holes, carpet beetles are more likely.
Where Each Pest Actually Comes From
Carpet Beetles: Usually From Outside
Adult carpet beetles fly in from outdoors — through open windows or, very commonly, via old bird nests in roof voids, chimneys and guttering, which act as a breeding source. Cut flowers brought indoors can also carry adult beetles in.
Clothes Moths: Usually Already Inside
Clothes moths rarely fly in from outside in large numbers. Instead, an established indoor population lays eggs directly in wardrobes, drawers, carpets and stored textiles, meaning the source is almost always already inside the property.
Other Tell-Tale Signs
Shed carpet beetle larval skins are small, bristly, oval-shaped cases, quite different from the silken tubes or webbing left by carpet moth larvae. Adult carpet beetles are 2–4mm, mottled black, white and orange-yellow, and are often spotted near windowsills — quite different in appearance from the golden-buff, 6–8mm adult clothes moth that scuttles rather than flies far.
Why Getting It Right Matters
Because the source and biology differ, so does the fix. A carpet beetle infestation traced to an old bird nest in the roof will keep returning until that nest is removed (only outside of nesting season, in line with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981) — no amount of carpet treatment alone will solve it. A moth infestation, by contrast, is usually resolved by treating the indoor source directly with residual insecticide and pheromone monitoring. Misidentifying one for the other means treating the wrong problem.