A reader recently wrote to us about a black worm she found on the wall of her house. The worm is also described as “slick” and is about four inches long. The reader’s house is on the east coast of Florida, in a town called Fort Pierce. So, the reader’s worm is from Florida – it is a Florida worm, if you will, although of course the worm she discovered might be found in any number of other places depending on what it is. The reader was also concerned if the worm is dangerous or harmful, as she has a nine-month-old baby in the house. What is this black, slick worm from Florida, and is it harmful?

A reader reached out to us because she found a mass of wriggling worms outside her home. We determined these “worms” to be Dark Wing Fungus Gnat larvae.

We decided to title this article with more or less the exact wording of an email we recently received from a reader. She reported that her “catalpa worms have white spikey things all over them,” and she is wondering what is going on. Something is clearly amiss with her Catawba worms. (For the record, Catalpa worms are Catawba worms and vice versa, as the words “Catalpa” and “Catawba” are interchangeable). The reader asked no additional questions, so we will focus only on the white spiky things on the Catalpa worms. We won’t worry about general matters of identification, presuming our reader is definitely dealing with Catawba worms, and we also won’t worry about ways to rectify the problem, which may not be possible anyway.

Just a couple of days ago we received a laconic email from a reader. He sent us a photo of what appears to be a caterpillar with one simple question: “Can you tell me what this is[?]” The caterpillar – if it is a caterpillar (and it probably is) – appears to be a bright color. It is perhaps yellow or maybe even entirely white. (The photo of the caterpillar is a bit hard to decipher, as you’ll soon see.) It also appears to be in the woods, or at least some natural setting with rocks, dirt, twigs, and similar such things. So, we have a seemingly simple question before us: what is the bright colored caterpillar in the woods?

A reader reached out to us about some drain fly larvae that have taken over her kitchen sink. To get rid of these larvae she will need to thoroughly clean out the sink and its drain. In the meantime, our reader should know that drain fly larvae are generally considered to be harmless since they aren’t known to transmit or carry any human diseases.

Worms whose color changes depending on their surroundings have been discovered all over the home of this woman in Fresno, CA. She asks if we can identify the worms as she is “freaking OUT.”

One of our readers found some brown worm-like organisms in his home. We believe these are carpet beetle larvae.

A reader writes to ask whether glowing green nightcrawlers are safe for turtles to eat. We’ve written previously about glowing green nightcrawlers, also known as glowworms, but this reader’s specific query, which we can surmise relates to a desire to expand a beloved pet turtle’s palate, has not been previously addressed. To that end, we’ve prepared a refresher on the nature of growing green nightcrawlers, as well as their suitability for animal consumption (we assume the possibility of human glowworm consumption is not of widespread interest). As you’ll see, some glowworms can probably be fed to pets and some cannot.

A reader recently asked us an interesting question about worms on the sidewalk. The subject matter isn’t strange – lots of people wonder why worms come out on the sidewalk – but his focus was unusual. He wasn’t curious about the presence of the worms, but rather about the “black balls of dirt” that came along with them onto the sidewalk. The reader asked “what” he was finding, which seems fairly simple – black balls of dirt (or possibly worm castings) – so we suppose we should expand the scope of the question, covering the matter of why he is finding dirt on the sidewalk along with worms.

A reader wrote to us recently about an amazing and beautiful worm, or what is believed to be a worm, that he had found on his patio. In fact, both those adjectives were combined, making the worm, in the reader’s words, an “amazing beauty.” The worm, which is about an inch long, had a red head, white “puffs” on its back, and two large antennae. Given this worm’s aesthetic appeal, it is not surprising that the reader wanted to know what kind of worm it was.

A reader just sent us a photo and asked us to identify the “worm that looks like a snake, yellow color with gray V-shape”. We agree that this specimen does resemble a snake more than a worm.

We received a question recently about a worm that a reader found in his bathroom. More precisely, the worm was found in the “gunk” between the tub and sliding door. The reader actually said he “found a ‘worm’ in the bathroom,” which we call attention to only because of the reader’s use of scare quotes. The reader acknowledges that he might not have found a worm at all, and in fact he probably didn’t. The “worm” in the bathroom could be a larva (or something else – it’s hard to say, as you’ll see). The reader was wondering what he had found, and also if a mere cleaning could address the problem.

A reader asked us how long earthworms can live underwater. There isn’t a clear-cut answer to this question because it depends on the oxygen level of the water and the worms, but in general earthworms can be expected to live for about 2 weeks submerged underwater before they drown.

“Found these in the Birdseye breaded green beans!” writes Susan about the tiny, maroon worms pictured below. “Yuck! Are they parasites? Concerned that my family and I have been eating these before seeing!” Yuck indeed: Susan seems to have lived many people’s worst nightmare, finding worms in their food. It reminds us of that scene from Mousehunt where someone finds a cockroach in their food. In any case, we have to tell Susan right off the bat that we will not be able to confirm or deny if these are parasites.

A reader discovered some reddish brown worms with ugly faces in her shower. We suggest she see a doctor about this situation, because she has expressed concern that these creatures might be coming from her.

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

We believe the worm that our reader found in her toilet came from her pipes, not her body! We are confident it is an earthworm, not a parasite! Of course, if she is convinced that it came from her body, she should see a doctor ASAP since we are not licensed medical professionals. 

A reader of ours in Seward, Alaska sent us a photograph of a cluster of worms that he found in Exit Glacier. The group of worms look to be small and white and seem to move together like a snake. After viewing the photograph, it is very possible that these are fungus gnat larvae.

“Very thin, little red worms” have been coming from this woman’s tap in La Union, the Philippines. She asks that we help identify the critters and provide insight on how to get rid of them completely.

Believe it or not, in some parts of the world insects are considered a delicacy. In some countries, crickets are…