How to Get Rid of Beetles in Your Tennessee Home

How to Get Rid of Beetles in Your Tennessee Home

Beetles are common in Tennessee and they often get into homes without being invited inside. When this happens, homeowners often look for a simple solution to get rid of the pests, but it’s not as easy as simply spraying them and hoping they disappear. 

To properly eliminate a beetle infestation, you need to know which type of beetle is present, since different beetles eat different foods, hide in different areas, and require different treatment processes. This guide to beetles in Tennessee will help you identify the beetles in your home, determine the best way to remove them, and provide recommendations on how to prevent future beetle problems.

What Type of Beetle Is in Your House?

Identifying the type of beetle in your home needs to come before treatment because the source of the problem can vary widely based on the species. Below are the most common types of beetles in Tennessee.

Pantry Beetles
As their name indicates, pantry beetles are usually found in kitchens, pantries, or stored food. They often infest flour, grains, cereal, spices, dry pet food, and other packaged goods. Common pantry beetles include drugstore beetles and flour beetles.

Carpet and Fabric Beetles
Carpet and fabric beetles are often found around closets, carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture, or stored fabrics. Their larvae can feed on natural fibers and other organic materials. When trying to identify them, shed skins or fabric damage are possible clues.

Wood-Boring Beetles
Wood-boring beetles are usually associated with wood furniture, framing, floor joists, or other structural wood. Signs of an infestation can include small exit holes and sawdust-like material near affected wood.

Overwintering and Occasional Invaders
Overwintering and occasional invaders cover a wide variety of beetles that often enter homes in large numbers. They may gather near windows, doors, basements, or sunny sides of the home. Asian lady beetles and ground beetles can fall into this broader category and they usually enter homes for shelter rather than with a plan to breed indoors.

How Do You Get Rid of Pantry Beetles?

Since pantry beetles spend their time in or near food, that’s where you’ll want to spend your time when trying to get rid of a pantry beetle infestation. We recommend inspecting all dry food products, including opened and unopened packages. Remove and discard food that shows beetles, larvae, webbing, holes, or other signs of infestation.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll want to:

• Vacuum pantry shelves, corners, and cracks and crevices
• Wipe hard surfaces with soap and water before restocking
• Store replacement food in sealed plastic or glass containers

Make sure to include pet food and birdseed in your inspection, not just human food. Pantry beetles will eat and nest in it all.

How Do You Get Rid of Carpet Beetles?

The best way to avoid carpet beetles is to remove the items the larvae feed on. Inspect rugs, wool clothing, upholstery, closets, stored fabrics, baseboards, and areas under furniture to look for damage, larvae, shed skins, or other signs of beetle activity. Once you’ve done this, we recommend:

• Vacuuming affected areas thoroughly, especially edges and undisturbed spaces
• Removing heavily damaged or infested materials when necessary
• Laundering or cleaning salvageable fabrics appropriately

Adult carpet beetles may be seen near windows. It’s the larvae that cause most of the damage indoors.

What Should You Do About Wood-Boring Beetles?

Oftentimes, wood-boring beetles do their work inside of wood, so it’s not always easy to identify them. If you suspect a problem, look at wooden objects for:

• Small round or oval holes
• Powdery or sawdust-like material
• Repeated fresh debris beneath wood
• Damage to furniture, flooring, joists, or framing

It’s also important to identify whether activity is current or old before treatment. If you suspect structural wood may be affected, contact All-American Pest Control for a professional evaluation.

How Do You Handle Asian Lady Beetles and Other Overwintering Beetles?

Overwintering pests enter homes seeking protected shelter rather than with the hopes of breeding. They typically come indoors in large groups in the fall and will reemerge in the spring when they head back outdoors. Overwintering pests may collect:

• Around windows
• Near doors
• In attics
• In wall voids
• Along sunny exterior walls

Vacuum visible beetles rather than crushing them indoors, since many can stain fabrics and give off an unpleasant odor. For long-term prevention, exclusion is your best line of defense. Seal gaps around windows, doors, siding, vents, and utility openings to prevent overwintering pests from getting inside.

Where Should You Look for the Source of a Beetle Problem?

Repeated beetle sightings usually become easier to solve once the source is found. Based on where you’re seeing activity, check the following areas:

• Kitchen and pantry for stored-product beetles
• Closets and rugs for carpet beetles
• Wood and furniture for wood-boring beetles
• Windows and exterior-facing rooms for overwintering beetles

Look for larvae, shed skins, damaged materials, food contamination, or fresh wood debris. Even if you see adult beetles, treating them on their own may not solve your beetle problem if you don’t get at the source of the issue. Knowing which beetles are in your house will help.

What Cleaning Steps Help Remove Beetles?

Although cleaning won’t completely remove beetles on its own, it is an important part of the process if you want to ensure that you eliminate an infestation. We recommend:

• Vacuuming shelves, cracks, edges, and corners
• Cleaning up food crumbs and spills
• Removing infested food or materials
• Reducing clutter
• Cleaning under appliances and furniture
• Emptying the vacuum outdoors after collecting active beetles or larvae

How Can You Keep Beetles From Coming Back?

Once a beetle infestation has been eliminated, you want to make sure you take the necessary steps to keep them from returning. These prevention methods will help make your home less attractive to beetles and harder to get into:

• Store dry food and pet food in sealed containers
• Inspect packaged goods before storing them
• Vacuum closets, rugs, and storage areas regularly
• Reduce unused cardboard and clutter
• Seal cracks around windows and doors
• Repair damaged screens
• Seal openings around pipes and utilities
• Check firewood, plants, boxes, and stored items before bringing them inside
• Remove leaf litter and debris close to the foundation
• Avoid letting mulch or dense vegetation sit directly against your home

Remember that prevention of a specific beetle species should match the beetle type rather than relying on one universal tactic. However, doing all of the steps above can help you prevent a variety of beetles, as well as other pests, so when it comes to prevention, it’s better to do more than less.

When Should You Call Pest Control for Beetles?

If you see one or two beetles in your house, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you immediately need professional pest control. Some of the reasons that professional help might make sense include:

• Beetles keep returning after cleaning and source removal
• The species cannot be identified
• Wood-boring beetles may be involved
• Multiple rooms are affected
• Infested materials are difficult to access
• The source appears to be inside walls, attics, or structural wood

A pest professional from All-American Pest Control can help identify the beetle species, the source of the infestation, whether active treatments are needed, and what prevention steps are most relevant to your situation. 

Get Beetles Out of Your Tennessee Home

Beetle control starts with figuring out what kind of beetle is present and where it’s coming from. Once you identify the species, treatment and prevention can occur. If your home needs professional beetle control due to the size of the infestation, not knowing which beetles are present, or recurring issues, get in touch with All-American Pest Control. We offer free home evaluations and are experts at identifying pests, determining source locations, eliminating infestations, and preventing new pests from getting inside. Contact us to get started.

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Since 1961, All-American Pest Control has been your go-to team of trusted pest experts for homes, businesses, and home builders throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Our expert team offers termite treatments, mosquito reduction, rodent removal, ant and spider control, and wasp nest removal—keeping your property protected year-round. As a local, family-owned company, we take pride in offering reliable, professional pest solutions with outstanding customer service.

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For trusted pest control in Nashville, TN, and these surrounding communities, contact All-American Pest Control today! Call (615) 824-8814 or Schedule a Free Consultation online.