I am turning to Champdogs yet again!  We have recently noticed tiny brown 'creatures' - small head and slightly longer body - on our one upstairs carpet.  These are around two millimetres long and seem to kind of just appear through the carpet.  They don't jump but we have seen a few fly recently - they seem to be beetles of some description.  Can't find anything on any website which looks anything like them - does anyone have any ideas before we get pest control in?  This is our spare room which is mainly used as a study and, as I am extremely untidy, has piles of paper and books over part of the carpet (if that helps).
Many thanks.

Carpet Beetle?

they do sound like carpet beetles.if they only appeared when you got your new carpet they probably came with it as eggs.time to tidy up,i think,and make sure your paperwork is not harbouring any.they are a right nuisance and need careful treatment to get rid of them-your carpet definately needs treating.you will get rid of them though,but keep your room clean and tidy or you'll have pests coming to visit again and again.

they sound like biscuit beetles. I had a problem with these some years ago when I had lots of dried flower arrangements - apparently they like to live in the arrangements. I was advised by pest control to freeze the flowers as this would kill them but I used an insecticide spray which worked and got rid of them once and for all. Try googling biscuit beetle as they sound very much like them.

> they sound like biscuit beetles

good grief,what a collection of creepy crawlies there are living with us!i've never heard of biscuit beetles-the name makes them sound almost cuddly-yikes!x

Get one in a small tub and get your local authority pest control officer to send it away free of charge for identification :) It could even be woodworm beetle so identification is a must. Good luck and dont worry :)

Many thanks (I think :) ).  I am determined not to get too stressed as there are far worse things happening in the world but the little critters do look like biscuit beetles or woodworm beetle.  I am so hoping they aren't the second as we live in a 1930's house which has loads of wood in it but the room they are in has never had any food in it.  I have collected a couple and will get them identified which, at least will give us a starting point for dealing with the problem.  First step will definitely be blitz of the room this weekend.  I will let you know the outcome and appreciate the advise.

I had them (biscuit beetles) on stairs and landing where no food was stored, but I had wall mounted dried flower arrangements at the time and environmental health told me that it was likely this is where they where coming from - I sprayed the flower arrangements and carpet edges / skirting boards with insectacide and that was the end of the problem for me thank goodness.

They are woodworm apparently.  No idea what to do but presumably it will involve something like rentokil??  We have been told to do something quickly before they lay their eggs (how do we tell?).  If anyone has had this problem I would be very interested to know what you did.  Now back to googling - at least I have two large hairy foot-warmers to keep me company.

Yes you will need a specialist company to eradicate woodworm..have a good look around (i'm sure you will) to get the best service for a decent price. Good luck, wish i could be of more help but i dont routinely treat these pests :)

Thank you Gabrieldobe.  Actually I had only thought of Rentokil - partly as they seem to use water-based products that don't hurt pets (or us!!) and we don't have to move out.  I think it's a very good idea to look around though - has anyone had this problem and can recommend anyone (we are Kent/London borders if not a national company).  Does anyone have any idea at all of how much this is likely to cost - Rentokil's website won't even give a clue.
Many thanks

Coincidentally I'd just read a thread about something similar to this on Money Saving Expert.

Unfortunately, I think it may be quite expensive and not covered by insurance to have your property actually treated for woodworm should they have already started to do any damage, see this thread on MSE ...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=449131

But, I would definitely get an opinion from a few different experts to have a look at these critters and evaluate what damage (if any) has actually occurred to your property and seek their advice on what to do next which I shouldn't imagine would be too expensive and hopefully it will give you some peace of mind.

Thank you very much for that Fablab.  I had assumed it would be expensive but my idea of expensive was about a fifth of the amount quoted, I now feel quite sick.  I am going to arrange for some surveys over half term and see what they say.  We only have carpet in two rooms so I would have thought we would have seen damage on the other floors but I will wait and see what the experts say..

Yes, the larvae of all these types of beetles can be quite indistinguishable. Most pest control companies in the UK offer free quotes, so they could come and look at the infestation and give you their opinion.
If they are woodworms though, acting as quick as possible is highly advised. If they were, though, you should be able to find and recognize holes in your property's wood which should look like this http://static.safeguardeurope.com/images/woodworm_damage_246.jpg
You could try to tackle the infestation alone, but in my experience beetles are nasty buggers, spread fast and are hard to locate (as in, their nesting grounds).

Cheers,
Phil - a professional pest expert in UK