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. However, spider beetles have three pairs of legs, which distinguishes them from the eight-legged true spiders.
Spider beetles can potentially infest a wide variety of animal or vegetable products.
They are most commonly associated with grains, although they can eat feathers, wool, dried meat and other products. Infestations mostly occur when these foods have been moistened and begun to mold. Eggs of the spider beetles are white and may be conspicuously laid about the food products. The larvae are C-shaped and resemble small white grubs. Pupation of spider beetles often occurs in small cavities that they chew out of wood or other soft materials.