“Where can I get help?” is the first thing this woman writes in her submission, posing the question that many face when they are concerned about parasite-related health concerns. This reader in particular is concerned about a “hookworm” that “came out of [her] dog” which has spread to her and her family members.

Hook worms are intestinal parasites that are quite common in cats and dogs, especially kittens and puppies. They can also infect humans. Hook worms (also written as “hookworms”) can be found throughout North America, but some types of hook worm are more likely to be found in tropical and semitropical regions. There are several types of hook worm including: A. caninum (canine hook worm), A. braziliense (canine and feline hookworm), U. stenocephala (Northern canine hook worm), and A. tubaeforme (feline hook worm).

A reader found some critters hanging from a towel that was out by the pool. We believe these worm-like organisms are inchworms.

At a minimum of 8 inches long, the ribbon worms body is long and lean with finlike appendages. Some giant ribbon worm species or ‘Lineus longissimus’ may reach up to 100 feet long.

Wax worms look like dull white caterpillars. They have thick bodies and a dark head. After mating, the female wax worm will lays her eggs and the cycle will begin again.

We received a rather heart-breakingly desperate letter from a mother who is worried about herself and her 2-year-old daughter. They live in Walker County, AL and she is convinced that they are both infested by worms or another parasite. The symptoms she lists include:

A reader wrote to us a while ago to ask about worm she found on the beach. Actually, she didn’t really ask about a worm on the beach – she wasn’t particularly interested in the beach worm itself – but she did mention it bit her son. Presumably, this is what concerned her about the worm. Peculiarly, though, she didn’t ask us anything. She merely said she found a white worm on the beach (it might have been more of a tan color, adds the reader) and that it bit her son, which created a mark on his skin that is red and itchy. Nothing else is added to the email – not even a period. We are of course in the business of answering questions, and the reader submitted her question through our eternally popular “Submit a Question” feature, so we are compelled to supply some information about her situation. What is this worm on the beach? Is this beach worm even a beach worm at all? Are worms on the beach generally dangerous?

We attempted to identify the specimen in a photo a reader sent us. At first we thought it could be a centipede, but then we settled on the belief that it is a bristle worm!

A reader recently submitted a question via the All About Worms Facebook page about a worm “coming out of the ground” in his garden. The most distinguishing characteristic of the worm is that it is “very thin, almost like nylon fish line,” and it moves in a “swaying motion.” The reader only asked if what he found is a type of worm, but we’ll do him one better by identifying the exact worm we think he found: a horsehair worm (occasionally spelled “horse hair worm”). Since horsehair worms are nematodes (roundworms), they are actually worms, not just creatures that everyday language, with its understandable but often frustrating contempt for scientific precision, has wrangled into the “worm category.”

A reader from Australia requested assistance in identifying some worms he’s found in his bathroom. He says that they are 3 mm – 4 mm (0.11” – 0.15”) long, black, and drop from the bathroom ceiling on threads. Once they land, they walk end over end. It is summer in Australia and he says that the temperature is around 40 ? (~104?). He would like to know what they are because they are freaking him out.

One of our readers has asked about “hard shelled worms about 1/2 to 1 inches long that curl into a…

A reader recently reached out to us and wrote, “I got an inchworm. Can it bite?”

A woman in Florida states that she is infested with parasites (as seen in the images below), and that she is desperate to get them identified. The first image displays a black worm, with an arrow-shaped head and a thinner, red tail, and the second image displays a long, semi-transparent worm.

One of our readers has been finding worms in her bathroom over the course of a few months. We are confident these worms are earthworms, which are not dangerous or harmful!

The earthworm’s moist, sustenance rich environment plays an extremely important role in reproduction as well. Worms prefer to mate and reproduce in warm moist soil, away from the light. If the conditions are not suitable for reproduction, the worms won’t reproduce.

A reader in Cairo, Egypt asks for our help after discovering a worm-like creature crawling on his bed cover. The creature appears to be black and white, with a segmented, elongated body.

“Found these worms in the backyard and there are a lot!” exclaims this reader in his submission regarding the segmented, yellow worm-like critter pictured below. “I have a small garden there with an orange tree, but the garden is unattended. What are those? They seem to be active in the night and light attracts them I think.” Based on the excellent photo our reader sent in, as well as the helpful context, we would conclude that these are mealworms. Mealworms are the larval stage of the mealworm beetle, which is a species of darkling beetle. As our reader correctly stated, mealworms are nocturnal, and while they are not necessarily attracted to light, they can sense it.

One of our readers found a ton of small worm-like organisms in her car. We are confident these are moth larvae. They are not harmful or dangerous and she can get rid of them by cleaning!

We recently received a question from a reader who found an interesting creature in her toilet. She found it a while after anyone had last used the toilet, so it is unlikely that it came from a human. She said she has done a lot of research, but has been unable to match it to anything she has discovered.

Yesterday we received one of the simplest questions we have ever been sent. The reader submitted a photo of a creature and asked only if it is a centipede or millipede. There were no complicating factors, so he was basically looking for a one-word answer. We think our reader found a millipede, and in what follows we explain why. In doing so, we will outline the difference between centipedes and millipedes, providing a concise guide that will help you determine whether you have found a millipede or centipede.