Varied carpet beetle adults have which color pattern?

• A. Gray body with a mixture of white, brown and yellow scales
• B. Solid black body
• C. Blue and yellow stripes
• D. Red and white patches

Answer: (A)

Varied carpet beetles have a mosaic, multicolored look on the adults. They’re small and round, with a dark background covered by tiny white, brown, and yellow scales that create a mottled grayish appearance. This pattern is distinctive and helps identify them among other beetles and carpet pests. The other color ideas don’t fit because a solid black body lacks the speckled scales, blue and yellow stripes imply a striped pattern, and red and white patches don’t match the characteristic mosaic of small colored scales seen on these beetles.