Mysterious Larva Found in Bathtub

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A reader from Maryland recently sent us a photo accompanied by three questions: What is in my bathtub? Why is it there? What should I do to prevent reoccurrence? She explained that she discovered a grayish/tan worm-like organism in the bathtub in one of the bathrooms in her home. Her kids bathed in the tub once about a year ago, but it has remained unused since then. The creature is about a centimeter long and alive and moving around. She explained that she has seen lady bugs, sugar ants, stink bugs, and house flies in her home, but nothing that looks like this mysterious specimen. She doesn’t think any of her children brought the creature in, and they don’t have a dog so it couldn’t have been dragged in through a pet. Here is the picture that she sent us:

What could this specimen be? It doesn’t look like an earthworm, bloodworm, or drain fly larva, all of which are discovered by readers in their bathtubs fairly often. Bloodworms and earthworms are both redder, thinner, and longer than this creature, and drain fly larvae are significantly smaller. Let’s take a closer look at this mysterious organism:

Unfortunately, we aren’t sure what this creature is. We believe it is likely some sort of larva, but we don’t know if it is the larva of a beetle, moth, butterfly, or fly. We also don’t know how or why it ended up in our reader’s bathtub. It could have come from the drain, or it might have gotten in through an open door or window and somehow wound up in the tub. Since we don’t have answers for our reader’s first two questions, we can’t offer any foolproof advice for fending off more of these organisms. We would recommend that our reader clean out her bathtub and bathroom. She can scrub out the toilet, sink, and tub using a cleaning agent that is designed to kill organic material. If the larva is feeding on organic material, eliminating it with a cleaning agent will remove their food source. In addition, she should check the windows, doors, and vents in her home to ensure they are properly sealed. Any gaps, even tiny ones, could be serving as an entry point for small organisms. Although finding unexpected creatures in your home is never fun, we don’t think our reader should stress too much about this one.

In conclusion, one of our readers discovered a worm-like organism in her bathtub. Unfortunately we are unable to determine what this specimen is or how it got into her tub. We recommend she remove the creature and give her bathroom a thorough cleaning.

 

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Mysterious Larva Found in Bathtub
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Mysterious Larva Found in Bathtub
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One of our readers discovered a worm-like organism in her bathtub. Unfortunately we are unable to determine what this specimen is or how it got into her tub. We recommend she remove the creature and give her bathroom a thorough cleaning.
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Author: Worm Researcher Dori

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