Bone/Walrus Tusk/Antler Belt Buckle - Alaskan

Dermestids (carpet beetles are one variety) are notorious for feeding on animal materials - wool, hair, horn, baleen, etc. The adults look like miniature lady bugs, little round brown and spotted things that can fly and tend to collect around windows trying to get out (the adults feed on pollen). The larvae look like very small fuzzy caterpillars, and are the ones that do damage to artifacts. They like dark, hidden, undisturbed places, like the folds of wool blankets, and things tucked away in closets or cabinets. In addition to eating your stuff, they also chew holes into adjacent materials for a place to pupate and transition into adults. Lovely creatures.

 

very small, not much bigger than a pinhead, maybe 1/8" at most; people may have seen them often without knowing what they are, tiny little beetles like brown-and-white miniature ladybugs....they do live in carpets sometimes; but will eat feathers, wool, felt, fur, leather, silk; may even gnaw on horn.

 

Nasty. Termites are the bane to my existence. I have to get my garage redone soon.

 

Thanks for the photos. Being the size of a pinhead would be a problem. Do spiders eat them? I refuse to kill spiders, so the cats and I live with them. All kinds - some are very small.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if some kinds of spiders would eat these, the larvae at least - dermestids, that's the word, thanks, 2MB.
I'm with you on the spiders, Kiko; around here the ones in houses are all pretty harmless, and may eat bad bugs, so I live with them also.

 

Good. I'll mention it to the big guy after he finishes lunch.