Under optimal conditions, they can complete a generation in less than two months. Adult beetles may live for a year or more. They have extremely diverse feeding habits but prefer high-protein materials of animal origin, such as wool and skins. Household lint, dead Insects or other debris are common materials on which large numbers of carpet beetles may breed. Infestations of carpet beetles in pantries are less common than for flour or sawtoothed grain beetles.
Carpet beetles are relatively slow to develop.
On cereal products, they require about one year for a generation. However, because the Insects are highly mobile, infestations may reoccur annually. Carpet beetles are much more important as pests of woolens, furs and other materials of animal origin. They are far more common, and more damaging, to fabrics than clothes moths in Colorado. They are larger than the other common stored-products beetles and appear similar in shape to a spider.