“I’ve been de-mothing my bedroom recently, and found a few of these”, writes this reader in Colorado about the thin, brown-striped, worm-like creature pictured below. “While they bear a passing resemblance to carpet beetle larvae, they don’t appear to match up exactly (I am, however, not the expert here). I’ve included both pictures of a dead one and video of a live one moving. If helpful, I live in the Rocky Mountain area.” First off, we want to say that we agree that this does look like a carpet beetle larva, and we do think that is what it is. The reason why it might not match up exactly with our reader’s idea of a carpet beetle larva is because there are actually multiple species of carpet beetles, all of which look slightly different from one another.

One of our readers recently reached out to us requesting help. She explained that she had some “worms of parasitic nature” retrieved from her cheek. She acknowledges that she should see a doctor but is hopeful that we will be able to identify these worms before she reaches out to a physician.

One of our readers noticed a worm-like organism in her toilet. We are confident that she is dealing with a rat-tailed maggot! She can get rid of this larvae by cleaning her toilet thoroughly.

Many species of tongue worms have superficial ringlike markings. This gives them the appearance of being segmented.

A reader from Texas recently wrote to us about some small black worms he is finding in his recreational vehicle (“RV”), and sent us a picture of one that is on his floor. On some days, he finds as many as six or seven of the black worms (which can also be “charcoal grey” worms) in his RV, but he has also gone up to a week without finding any worms. After struggling to discern where the worms are coming from, he finally concluded that they are entering the RV through the heat vents. The reader lives in his RV, and so was naturally wondering what he is finding, and he also wanted to know how to get rid of the black worms that have taken up residence in his RV.

A reader found carpet beetle larvae in her home. As most of our site visitors know, we write about carpet beetle larvae every week, and we are confident that our reader can say goodbye to these unwanted visitors with some dedicated cleaning.

A reader wrote to us a while ago about worms in his swimming pool, or what are believed to be worms in his swimming pool. (The worms could be larvae, potentially of the Chironomidae family.) The worms or larvae are about an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, brown and yellow in color, and quite thin, about the width of pencil lead, according to the reader. The reader only wants to know what the brownish, yellowish worms (or larvae) in his swimming pool are, so we will limit our remarks to the matter of identification.

A reader asked us a couple of days ago why there are no longer Catawba worms on her Catalpa trees (or Catalpa worms on her Catawba trees – “Catalpa” and “Catawba” are interchangeable). Catawba worms make excellent fishing bait, so the reader was keen to find out how to attract them back to her trees. Since she gave no information about her circumstances, it’s of course very difficult to say why the Catawba worms left, and for similar reasons it is hard to say how to get them back. (Obviously, the two questions are related.) Even in the absence of specific information, we can still supply some general information about attracting Catawba worms to Catalpa trees, and what keeps them away.

One of our readers discovered some small brown creatures under a blanket in her home. We think they are probably carpet beetle larvae.

We received a question from a reader recently via the All About Worms Facebook page about what we think is a millipede or centipede in her shower. The question has a bit of a backstory, so we’ll quote the relevant part of the reader’s message and then move on to address her concerns: “I had an episode of Vertigo yesterday and I thew up in the trash can. I cleaned the trash can out in the shower. So I am kinda freaking out thinking that it might have been inside me! Or hopefully it is just a coincidence that is was in there.” The reader is first of all wondering what she found, and she is also wondering if the creature has its origin in her body.

We received a question from a reader recently about a small maggot, or something like a maggot, that he found in his bathroom. The reader’s email to us does a decent job covering his situation, so we’ll quote it in full (with the addition of several articles, definite and indefinite): “This tiny white maggoty looking worm with light pinkish head and tail was on the edge of my bathroom sink this morning. My shitzu sleeps with me. Maybe it crawled on me in the night and fell off me at the sink? He goes potty in a woodsy area. I know there are chiggers he brings in. I’m in west central Missouri. Just north of Kansas City and it’s the end of June. Can you identify? Thank you.”

A concerned son recently wrote to us about some worms his mother found on her kitchen ceiling. His mother vacuumed them off, but they reappeared. He said that when he tried to knock them off, the worms appeared to be hanging by a piece of web. He described the worms as being light colored and less than half an inch in length. He is hopeful that we can identify these pests and advise him on how to get rid of them in order to give his mother peace of mind.

One of our readers reached out to us about some of his health concerns that are potentially worm-related. We encourage him to visit a travel infectious disease doctor to address these concerns.

One of our readers sent us a picture of a worm-like creature that she found in her kitchen. She said that she found it on the lid of the trash can. She said the trash can was closed, so she assumed that it came from the kitchen counter or sink which are located relatively close to the trash can. She did mention that she has pets, so she wanted to make sure that they were safe from it. She first thought it to be a waxworm, but she said it was much longer, had stripes, and a red head. After looking at the picture, there is a possibility that it could be a couple of things.It could be a caterpillar and it could be a type of inchworm.

“Small, thin, black worms” of approximately 1-2-inches have been showing up in our reader’s backyard. This is a new occurrence for our reader, as it has only been happening for the past “couple of months”, and our reader wonders if they are “good worms or bad worms.”

Other methods involve using a garden fork to create vibrations and sprinkling the tops of soil with water to trick the worms into believing it is raining. Rain causes earthworms to flee to the surface for fear of “drowning” beneath the top layers of soil.

A reader reached out to us after discovering what she thought might be carpet beetle larvae under her leather settee. We have confirmed her suspicions and provided some steps for getting rid of carpet beetle larvae.

We received a photo from a reader that appears to depict a few dozen dried worms on some concrete surface, perhaps a driveway, or maybe a sidewalk leading up to a front door. (“Dried worms” sounds almost like some sort of snack, so maybe “dried-up worms” or “dried-out worms” is a better way to describe them.) Normally, we would say the reader asked a question about the dried worms on the driveway or sidewalk or whatever concrete surface we are looking at, but no question was asked. In fact, no text was supplied whatsoever – the picture was submitted and nothing else. We can’t divine exactly what our reader is looking for from us, but context suggests we take his message as an unspoken question of identification. What are the dozens of worms on the concrete, and how did they get there?

One of our readers discovered two specimens on her bed: case bearing clothes moth larvae and carpet beetle larvae. Both of these larvae are considered to be household pests, so it is important that our reader begin cleaning to get rid of them ASAP to keep the damage to a minimum.

If the infection is allowed to progress, worms can lead to weight loss, anemia, vomiting, and in some cases, even death. Fortunately early worm detection can be as easy as a quick trip to the vet or a two-minute exam that you can perform on your own at home.