“Can of worms” can refer to many things, as a previous post about the multiple uses of the phrase “can of worms” makes clear. When spelled “Can-O-Worms,” it refers to a composting system. When written as “can of worms,” it is often being used as part of a popular idiom, although it may just be referring to a literal can of worms.
A reader recently wrote to us about caterpillar-like worms entering the house, and this reader was also interested in learning about how to get rid of them. (Technically, the reader wrote to us about “catterpillow like worms” entering the house, but we’ll assume it was bad typing day.) Most of the time, worms that are like caterpillars are in fact just plain caterpillars (check out this article if you want to know the difference between caterpillars and worms), so we can assume our reader is dealing with caterpillars, but in truth it doesn’t really matter what we’re dealing with because the reader merely mentioned that some type of worm-caterpillar creature is in the house. Thus, we’ll have to confine ourselves to addressing the general question of how to get rid of worms and caterpillars in your house.
Recently, we received a question from a reader inquiring about the small black worms (or “tiny black worms,” as the reader put it) he found in the entrance of his house. The worms are about one centimeter long, and instead of lying straight, they tend to curve into semicircles. What are these small black worms, and if they are found, should you do anything about it?
Can worms see? And if so, how is this possible if they don’t have eyes (at least in the everyday sense of the term “eyes”)?