“What are these clear worm things with black insides?” asks Robyn in her submission regarding the organism pictured below. “They were in the bathtub after giving my dog a bath. HELP!” Although the photo is quite blurry, we think that — given what we can see, Robyn’s description of the creature, and the context in which it was found — Robyn found flea larvae. Now, we realize that saying this could be cause for panic, given that fleas do infest dogs, and it is not the nicest thing to hear that this could be a possibility. What we will say is that flea larvae do not have the same diet as their adult counterparts, meaning that while the adult flea attaches itself to the outside of animals like dogs to suck their blood, the larvae do not do this.

“Is this a case-bearing clothes moth?” asks this reader in her submission regarding the silver moth pictured below. “I’m in Georgia. Thank you for your time.” Now, while we are in the business of identifying the worm-like offspring of insects, we are not the best people to ask about adult insects, so we will have to warn our reader that the information and advice we provide may not be the most credible she could find. With that said, we will do our best to identify this organism and help her. With that said, our opinion is that she has already done the bulk of the work for us, because this does indeed look like a case-bearing clothes moth.

“What kind of bug is this that I found in the seam of my pants?” asks Shanan in her submission regarding the six-legged, winged bug pictured below. “Thank you for your time.” Right away, we will have to state that since we specialize in identifying worm-like organisms, this is a bit outside of our area of expertise, and for that reason we cannot promise an accurate or confident identification. The best we can do is provide an educated guess. On top of that, the photos she sent in (the best of which we included below) were pretty blurry, which makes it even harder to arrive at an identification.

“What is this guy?” is all Brooke asks in her submission regarding the black, worm-like creature pictured below. It has an arched back and bulbous head, which tells us that this is an inchworm. Usually it is much harder to identify organisms without more context, or without a clearer photo, but the shape of this creature is so specific to inchworms that we knew it had to be one. Inchworms have legs at the front and back of their body, which forces them to curve their back in this way as they ‘inch’ their way forward.

“I’m hoping someone can help me ID this very weird worm I found in a drop of water in our shower stall (hours after its last use)”, writes Leah in her submission regarding the creature pictured below. “I’m in Eastern Ontario. I thought maybe it was a drain fly or centipede but have been told it appears to be a worm. Any thoughts? Sorry for the poor quality photo. I’d really appreciate any assistance!” We do agree that this is a very strange-looking worm. It has qualities that remind us of creatures we are familiar with: the triangular-shaped head reminds us of a hammerhead worm or even a snake, but the two thin string-like appendages at the rear look like antennae (which would normally be on the head of an organism) which remind us of centipedes, which Leah already picked up on. That said, we do not think it is a drain fly (or drain fly larva). We also agree that the photo is unfortunately quite poor quality, which makes it hard for us to discern any other identifying features and give a confident identification.

“Yesterday my kids caught a Hentz Orb-weaver in a small mason jar. I was going to set it free but I completely forgot about the spider and it was left in the sealed jar on my back porch and when I woke up I noticed the spider was dead but there was also a long skinny light brown worm like creature inside the jar next to the dead spider”, writes Kelsey in his submission regarding the worm pictured below. “I’m completely baffled because this worm was not in the jar last night and the Mason jar has a sealed aluminum lid so I can’t imagine anything getting through that. How did the worm get in the jar? Is it some kind of parasitic worm? Can orb weaver spiders carry parasitic worms? I am a little freaked out and I really want to know how and why this is possible. Please help! Oh and the worm is very much alive by the way.”

“I found the worms in the attached photo in the toilet in my basement which is not frequently used”, writes Emma in her submission regarding the mass of worms pictured below. “This is the second time we have found worms in this toilet in the past six months. Would you be able to identify them for me? Thank you!” Unfortunately, Emma’s photo is taken so far away from the worms that when we zoom in, the details become too blurry for us to give a confident and accurate identification. That said, we will still give an educated guess based on the general shape and coloration of the worms.

“Infested house and garden, two and a half years trying to get rid of them”, starts Paula in her submission regarding the blurry creature with multiple appendages pictured below. “I’m disabled and can’t get any help. I’ve spent thousands on deadbeat alleged insect killer firms. Please help me.” Unfortunately, since the photo is so blurry, we will only be able to provide an educated guess as to the identity of this organism, as opposed to a confident and accurate identification. With that said, we are somewhat confident in our guess, as the outline of this creature’s shapes and what we assume to be its many legs points us in one direction: centipedes.

“I found this worm in a puddle of water on top of a tarp”, writes Donna in her submission regarding the long, thick, purple worm pictured below. “It appears to not like to dry out. It seems happiest just laying in the water. The mouth has this white tongue it sticks out. When disturbed it does jump a little like the Asian jumping worms, but not as extreme. It also can crawl backwards as well as forwards. Pics attached. I am a returning reader.” Firstly, welcome back to Donna. Secondly, we think the connection she made to the Asian jumping worm is very appropriate, because just like the Asian jumping worm, we think the critter Donna found is an earthworm.

“I keep finding this worm around my apartment”, writes Alyssa in her submission regarding the segmented, velvety black, worm-like critter pictured below. “It first started by finding them by the front door then I found one in the kitchen one day, one in the living room and now two by/in my bedroom. The living room and bedroom are carpeted, the kitchen is not and neither is by the front door. They are about an inch in length and I usually find them curled up in a circle. I am a pretty clean person and clean once a week so I’m unsure why I’ve been finding these for the past week or so. I’d like to get rid of them for good but am not sure what they are! Help!”

“In addition to, thankfully, lots of earthworms, I often find small worm-like creatures in my (UK) home-made compost (see picture, which I will hopefully be able to attach)”, writes John in his submission regarding the tiny, cream-white and brown, worm-like creatures pictured below. “These are about three quarters to one inch long. What are they, and will they harm plants? Many thanks if you’re able to reply.” Upon zooming in on these critters, we can see that their bodies are segmented and that tiny antennae sprout from their heads. This fact, coupled with the shape of their bodies and the location in which they were found tells us that John has found millipedes.

“At least, I think they are worms”, writes Jay in his submission regarding the tubular, orange objects pictured below. “They are in my garden, and clearly invertebrate. I’m in south-central Wisconsin, north of Madison by about 1/2 hour drive.” We have certainly never seen worms that look like these. At first sight, we thought of carrots, albeit hollow carrots. But these are clearly not carrots. That said, they are also not worms. They are actually a species of fungus called Mutinus elegans. These guys have many nicknames, including elegant stinkhorn, dog stinkhorn, headless stinkhorn, and much more.

“My home is infested inside and out with thin white worms that appear to be accompanied by or some stage of a thin black worm”, writes Shari in her submission regarding the worm pictured below. “They scatter through the air with the slightest disturbance. I tried spraying them down with bleach attached to water hoses, but they just end up floating in the air and landing on me. Pest control has been no help in identifying. I live in Sarasota, Florida. My house is old, built in 1959 and had a major plumbing issue. Cast iron pipes broke underground and the entire plumbing clogged up. It was so bad water was coming out of the vent pipe on the roof. I’m wondering if this worm issue is related to the plumbing. Especially since the pipes broke underground.”

“I found it in my stool/poop”, writes Shagufta in her submission regarding the long, pink worm pictured below. “The picture attached, in fact, [was taken] before [my] stool. What should I do?” Typically, we cannot respond to these types of submissions with much information regarding the identity of the worms, meaning those submissions which have to do with worms that come from people’s bodies. Given the potential health-related implications of finding an organism in one’s body, we are neither qualified or legally able to identify such an organism. Only a medical professional is. Of course, that is not really what Shagufta is asking: she asks what she should do. But, it is important that we note the second thing Shagufta writes in her submission; the photo was taken before she used the bathroom. This completely contradicts what she writes in the beginning, so we still want to tread with caution here.

“What are these things?” asks Mary in her submission regarding the swarm of tiny, worm-like creatures pictured below. “They look a little different from the others I’ve seen on your site. First I found a bunch on a spot on my ceiling yesterday. Now today I found a bunch on a windowsill in the room beside where I found the ones on the ceiling in the hallway. Thank you.” Mary sent a bunch of photos, as well as a video, but we have included the photo which we think shows the organisms most clearly, though they are still quite hard to see, as the photo is taken quite far away and the resolution is not the best. Luckily, the video does show the critters up close.

“Can you please identify this moth type?” asks Shanan in her submission regarding the white moth with delicate, feathery wings pictured below. “I’m in South Georgia. I found this moth in my bedroom dresser. Thank you for your time.” Typically, we do not identify full-grown insects, but rather their offspring: larvae. That is simply because the nature of our website is to identify worms and worm-like organisms, which larvae are included in. With that said, we will still give this a crack, though Shanan should keep in mind that this identification may not be 100% accurate given that this is not our area of expertise.

“What kind of worm-like thing is this?” asks Evey in her submission regarding the segmented creature pictured below. “It has antennae and no legs. I found it burrowing in my ear.” To start with, we want to express our sympathy to Evey: it must be an unnerving experience to have any kind of creature burrowing into one’s ear. Now, given that this creature was found on/in Evey, we cannot provide an identification with 100% certainty or accuracy, because there is a chance that the discovery of this organism has medical implications. So, what we can do is direct Evey to some resources were she to grow concerned for her health as a result of finding this creature, and we can also provide an identification that should only be considered if a medical professional does not identify any medical issues (and does identify the worm-like creature as a threat) or if Evey is not concerned for her health as a result of this discovery.

“My cat dropped this on my chest”, writes Taylor in his submission regarding the pink, worm-like creature with a white head and pronged rear. “What is it? A worm? A centipede? I included a picture of how it looks and a video to show how it moves. I appreciate your help!” Now, while being shaped like a worm and having clear-cut segmentation like a centipede, we do not believe this creature is either a worm or a centipede. We actually think it is a larva, specifically a beetle larva. We are not certain exactly which species of beetle this belongs to. The pink coloration reminds us of the scarlet malachite beetle, but the white head throws us off that course. In fact, the inchworm-like movements of the creature (as seen in the video linked below) has us doubting if it is a beetle larva at all.

“What is this worm?” asks Billie in her submission regarding the brown-striped creature pictured below. “I found them on my children’s bedroom floor. We thought we had powderpost beetle infestation because we have small holes in some of our new hardwood floors. Maybe these bugs are unrelated? I found three at 6:30 in the morning after turning on the lights. The largest is probably less than 1/4 inch long.” We can tell Billie straight away that this is not a powderpost beetle or a powderpost beetle larva (which are white in color with a small black spot on its head), but is a carpet beetle larva. Billie may have heard of carpet beetles before: they are a notorious pest that do not feed on hardwood floors, but the rugs and carpets we put on top of them.

“What is this?” asks Cyndi in her submission regarding the long, black worm with a gray striped down its back pictured below. “It’s fascinating! I found it crawling on my window and along the window sill. It lifts its head moving forward. It almost appears to have eyes. It only moves forward (front is left to right). I appreciate the help!” Based on the fantastic photo Cyndi sent us, we think she has found a New Guinea flatworm. As their name suggests, this species of flatworm is endemic to New Guinea (the island off the coast of Australia), and is considered an invasive species in other countries. Besides concerns about how their presence will disrupt the biodiversity in the habitats they are introduced to, New Guinea flatworms do not pose much of a threat to humans, despite popular anti-flatworm rhetoric.