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Insect identification

post #1 of 6
8/3/10 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 
Hello,

Have recently removed a bunch of seed ticks off of a newly adopted stray cat. Have also found a legless bug in her fur.. Have attached a picture of it here. I'm hoping someone can help identify exactly what it is and if it is something to be concerned about.. Thanks for your help.



-Kiki
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post #2 of 6
8/3/10 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 
OOps looks like my image link was not honored..

Here is a direct link:

http://yfrog.com/mvbug1hpj

http://yfrog.com/mvbug1hpj

Thanks
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post #3 of 6
8/3/10 at 1:47pm
Looks like a larvae from a beetle from the dermestidae family. Various types of the beetles eat everything from grains, to carrion, to textiles. That looks to be a varied carpet beetle larvae.

Harmless to animals. She likely picked it up from laying somewhere, either from the ground under something, on old rotting cloth/carpet, or if you have carpet it could have even came from your carpet.
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post #4 of 6
8/3/10 at 2:01pm
That is not a very clear picture, but from what I can see it is some kind of larval stage, most likely of a beetle. I won't promise it's not harmful since I can't pinpoint a species, but more than likely it is nothing to worry about.
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post #5 of 6
8/3/10 at 2:02pm
Dang, you beat me to it. I had already opened it and was researching my beetle species before you posted. Ha ha.
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post #6 of 6
8/3/10 at 3:29pm
^I didn't have to research it, the fat fuzzy butt is very identifiable. I only had to double check the spelling on dermestidae. I've unfortunately had to deal with carpet beetles before, they love clothing. When you see "moth eaten clothing" it's rarely actually moths and is usually the damage caused by carpet beetle larvae. They'll destroy all sorts of collections.

I really hope the OP's stray brought her hitchhiker in and didn't find it in the house, otherwise they have some pest clean up to do.

I've also had the flesh eating type of dermestids get packed along in shipments of crickets I've ordered in the past.. (as well as a bunch of spiders, that was definitely a surprise). They're black, very fuzzy, but fatter than the larvae of the black carpet beetle.
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