“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.

“I found these small, white worms in my horse’s water bucket in the barn”, writes Jennifer about the organisms pictured below. “I have seen them hanging from a thin thread they weave in his stall before. I am trying to identify them to make sure they aren’t toxic to him if he did ingest them. Thank you in advance.” First things first, we have to make clear that, given Jennifer’s concern for her horse’s health, any suggestions we make as to the identity of these worms should only be considered in light of these organisms being deemed non-threatening to the horse by a veterinarian. Since we are not medical professionals, we are neither qualified nor legally able to identify parasites or other organisms that directly impact the health of humans or pets, as doing so is tantamount to diagnosing their medical issue. So, we recommend that Jennifer asks a vet to check her horse and inspect the worms to see if they are a threat.

“We found these worms in one of our toilets after returning thirteen days later”, writes Jerry in his submission regarding the many, tiny, black, worm-like creatures pictured below. “No one used this toilet while we were gone. This toilet is on the second floor.” Considering the worms’ appearance and the context in which Jerry found them, we think he has found drain fly larvae. Also known as moth flies due to their stout, furry bodies which resemble moths more than the common house fly, drain flies are notorious bathroom pests. They are not pests so far as doing any real damage to the items in one’s home, but infestations of them can be hard to tackle and the flies can thereby become a real nuisance.

“I found this in my bathroom and don’t know what it is”, writes Dainé in her submission regarding the bristly, black worm pictured below. “Could you please help me?” We are, of course, happy to help Dainé identify this creature. Although she does not provide much context, the little that we are provided, coupled with the fantastic photo, is enough for us to identify this organism, which is a drain fly larva. Otherwise known as moth flies, drain flies are commonly considered pests, though we would argue they really are not: they do not damage anything in the home, and they pose no real health threat other than potentially causing asthmatic reactions if an infestation of them is left for too long. Drain flies are attracted to bathrooms which have been left uncleaned or unused for a long time, laying its eggs on the organic film that forms in the lip of drains.

“What are these?” asks Erin in her submission regarding the black, worm-like critter pictured below. “I found about five in my house.” She does not include any more context, and the photo is unfortunately of a low resolution, meaning the details get blurry when you try to zoom in on the little guy. For that reason, we will only be able to provide an educated guess as to what this is, rather than an accurate and confident identification. In any case, we think this is a larva of some kind, possibly a beetle larva.

“What is this?” is all Kelly Jo writes about the segmented, white worm-like critters pictured below. It looks to us like the creatures are on a bed post, but that is mere speculation based on the little we can make out from the photo. Without more context, it will not be possible for us to give an exact identification, because the physical characteristics of this creature are so commonplace among worm-like creatures that it could be any number of things. With that said, we do think it is some type of insect larva (given the brown head and segmented body), and we will list some of the most likely creatures it could be, provided Kelly Jo found the creature in her home.

“I have an infestation of white moving little things coming out of the corners of every room”, writes Debbie in her submission, which unfortunately does not include any photos. “They’re different sizes and very small and they stick to whatever they can and you can’t break them away from it. They also are in my neighbors house and all over her house counter tops and on her clothes. They can break apart and still live. Their texture is like a human being booger out if their nose. Please help if you know anything about this. Please respond.” We will say that we will not be able to identify this worm with 100% accuracy or certainty, given the lack of photo and how vague the physical descriptions are. All we can do is make some educated guesses.

“I found these worm-like critters living in my cat’s automatic waterer”, writes Linda about the black creatures pictured below. “What are they and where did they come from?” Based on the excellent photo and the context that Linda provided us, we think she found drain fly larvae in the waterer. Drain fly larvae are harmless to humans and cats, but can be quite a nuisance. As their name suggests, they are found near or inside drains, as the adult flies lay their eggs on the organic film that forms in the lip of a drain. They do this because the diet of the larvae largely consists of the organisms that grow in stagnant water, like algae and fungi, as well as microorganisms.

“These teeny tiny worm-type things have suddenly appeared in our baby’s cot!” writes Kristin in her submission regarding the segmented creature with the bulbous head pictured below. “They look like bits of dirt initially, but when we looked closer they are moving! Could they be inchworms? And is this common in a babies cot? Thank you.” Based on the great photo Kristin sent in, as well as her keen eye for caterpillars, we can confirm that this is indeed an inchworm. Firstly, and most importantly, inchworms are not harmful to babies, or to grown adults for that matter. They are caterpillars of moth species which are endemic to North America, and they are characterized by the placement of their legs (at the front and back) which makes them arch their back as they walk.

“I returned from a holiday to find these worms swimming in our toilet”, writes Siobha about the black creatures pictured below. “What are they?” We have to admit that, were it not for the size and color of the worms, as well as the location they were found in, we would not be able to identify these creatures based on the photo and video alone, because the quality is simply not that good. Fortunately, we can make an educated guess based on the aforementioned factors: we think these are drain fly larvae. As their name suggests, drain fly larvae are the immature form of a species of fly that like to infest drains. They are not harmful, but they can be quite a nuisance.

“Can you please help identify this worm?” asks this reader in their submission regarding the white and yellow-striped worm-like critter pictured below. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Well first off, we want to say thank you to our reader for sending in this great photo! To us, this looks like a caterpillar of some kind, though we are not entirely sure what species of caterpillar it is. It could also be a sawfly larva, which are often mistaken for caterpillars. What we will say is that we recommend that our reader avoid direct physical contact with the creatures, since we do not know what they are. Allergic reactions can occur with unknown species. We do not think it is highly likely with this caterpillar, as typically poisonous caterpillars possess bristles, but that is not always a given.