A reader recently reached out to us from Southern California. She explained that she found a tiny beige bug crawling on a piece of clothing inside her laundry hamper. She thought there might be more of them, so she checked everything else inside of the hamper, the hamper itself, and the area around the hamper, but she didn’t find anything. She hopes we will be able to identify the creature and advise on whether it is something to be concerned about.

Our first thought was that she might be dealing with carpet beetle larvae, the notorious household pests that we write an article about nearly once a week! Carpet beetle larvae aren’t dangerous in terms of health or safety, but they have destructive and relentless eating habits and can cause a lot of household damage if an infestation occurs. Luckily, we don’t think this is what our reader has discovered. First, while this specimen has some resemblance to a carpet beetle larva, it doesn’t have the distinctive orange/brown segments or tiny hairs covering its body. Also, if our reader was dealing with carpet beetle larvae, she definitely would have found more of them during her extensive search. While we are confident that this creature isn’t a carpet beetle larva, we still aren’t sure what it is.

We think it might be some sort of beetle, but we aren’t sure. Since our reader only found one of these creatures, we don’t think she needs to tear apart her house or drive herself crazy looking for answers. The creature might have come inside on an item of clothing, riding on a pet, or through a small crack or gap. As long as our reader doesn’t continue to find these creatures, she can simply place it back outside and forget about it!

In conclusion, we weren’t able to identify the beige organism our reader found in her laundry hamper. We don’t think it is a carpet beetle larva or a common household pest, so it isn’t something she should stress about. If any of our other readers recognize this creature, we invite them to comment below!

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