A skin beetle in the garden or in standard houses is not a rare sight anymore. Earlier, skin beetles were rare in Danish single-family houses. Today, you´ll find them underneath every bucket or bag or in every crack around the house. A skin beetle is very placid. The reason why they are considered a pest is because they search for leftover foods. And once you really start looking, it´s never a case of just one. Although they live on their own, once you find one, there is a pretty good chance that there are more skin beetles nearby. Many quite rightly call the skin beetle just a regular beetle. A skin beetle has 3 pairs of legs and wings.
A skin beetle moves quite fast. Insects like a skin beetle have six legs to give them speed. It is quite common to see flocks of starlings settle down, and then fill their beaks with skin beetles again and again. Skin beetles are considered a pest because they live so close to us.
A skin beetle can fly inside through an open window. When a skin beetle lands, it will begin searching for food right away. Whether a skin beetle can search for food when airborne is not known, but we do know that it will definitely begin searching once it lands. In some ways, it is hard to consider the skin beetle a pest because it only makes a nuisance of itself if finds things like unwrapped foods.
Skin beetles can gnaw their way through light packaging. This means that you can simply keep skin beetles out of your house by keeping it clean. This way, there will not be anything for the skin beetle to find.
A skin beetle eats carrion in nature. When they lay their eggs, they typically do so in carrion. This carrion will then be the source of food for the skin beetles’ spawn. A skin beetle can eat everything that is found in carrion, even cartilage and bones. This means a skin beetle can eat an entire animal. This is a good thing in nature, as you can be sure a dead animal doesn´t last long once the skin beetles have found their way to it.
A skin beetle also eats other things than carrion. However, its main meal is always animal-based. This means that dog food and other similar products could also be a food source for the skin beetle.
Once a skin beetle has laid its eggs in carrion, the larvae will start eating the tissue of the dead animal. Once a larva is ready to pupae, it will find a suitable spot. When it is fully evolved, the skin beetle will emerge from the approx. 2 cm deep hole it had been in.
You can actually find skin beetles anywhere. These insects live in the shade and where it is cold. Try going outside and looking at a bag of sphagnum that has been left outside all winter. You are guaranteed to find skin beetles hidden in the soil. Skin beetles are not necessarily a sign of poor hygiene. Outside, they form part of the natural fauna, and are part of the food chain, clearing away discarded matter, and are also a source of food themselves just like other insects. Skin beetles can also be found in tree roots.
You can also find skin beetles under loose paving or where you have felled trees. With their many crevices that provide good places in which to hide, woodpiles are the perfect habitat for skin beetles. And many birds, mice etc. root around in these woodpiles, which create a shadowy environment for skin beetles and many other insects and animals. Therefore, a large woodpile is a whole biological universe in miniature. A skin beetle can find many places to lay eggs in a large woodpile, since many animals and insects seek shelter here if they are hurt.
Skin beetle control is not hard. You can just grab a flyswatter and get started. But if you want to kill skin beetle eggs, you´ll need insecticides. It is important to try and deprive the skin beetle of its food source. Check around the house outside to see if there are any dead animals, such as a dead bird or mouse in the hedge, a perfect spot for the skin beetle to spawn. By getting rid of such carrion, you are well on your way to a skin beetle-free garden. The best time to find skin beetles is at night, so it might be a good idea to continue your search then. It shouldn´t take long to find where skin beetles like to congregate inside your house. There are many remedies you can use, but the main thing to remember is that an ordinary insecticide will do the trick and will kill the skin beetles as effectively as anything else. Skin beetles aren´t really a pest as such, but using a common insecticide will help you get rid of them.
