A reader recently contacted us with the following message, “I found little white worms in my home. What are they?” This message wasn’t accompanied by a photograph or any other details, so the only information we have about these creatures is that they are little and white. Where shall we begin?

First, while our reader classifies these creatures as “worms,” we have no way of knowing if they are indeed worms, or larvae, or something else altogether. We assume she said they were worms because they of their body shape and movement. However, people often describe millipedes as worms, and they have legs. Additionally, people describe “larvae” as worms all the time, and a larva could be the immature form of a beetle, moth, or other various creature. Also, although our reader said these creatures are “little” we have no scale to base this size off of. Little compared to a finger? Little compared to a grain of rice? We just don’t know.

The first creature that comes to mind that our reader might have discovered is a maggot (which is displayed in the featured image). Maggots are the larvae of house flies. They are round and white and quite tiny. They eat decaying flesh, so they might be found on a piece of roadkill, or even some rotten meat. Our reader didn’t say where she discovered these “little white worms” so there is no way to determine if they are maggots or not.

In summary, a reader asked us a vague question about “little white worms.” We don’t have enough information to identify the specimen, and we don’t have a photo to check our ideas with. If our reader wishes for us to solve this mystery, we encourage her to send us some more details and/or a photograph. Helpful clues could be where the little worms were found, how many there were, how they moved, how small they are compared to an object, and any other significant characteristics.