We recently heard from a reader in Fort Worth, Texas. She found some small worm-like organisms in a bag of guinea pig food and hopes that we will be able to identify them. She sent us a few photographs of the creatures. The first photo shows a small specimen practically camouflaged among the guinea pig food pellets. We almost didn’t see it! It is a small pale pink creature right in the middle of the photo, where food pellets have been cleared away:
We are confident that this is a pantry moth larva, also known as an Indian meal moth larva. Indian meal moth larvae are about half an inch long, and usually off-white, often with a pink hue! As their name “pantry moth larvae” hints, these are fairly common pests that people deal with in their pantries or wherever they store dried goods. So far this seems like a great match for what our reader is dealing with. Let’s take a closer look:
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