“Any idea what this worm is?” asks Luke in his submission regarding the tiny, yellow, worm-like creature pictured below. “It looks very similar to a meal moth larva but more yellow, with a larger spot on its back, and a light colored head. I found it dangling from a really thin silk line off a tree.” Now, if it were not for that last piece of context, we would have identified this as a mealworm (which is not to be confused with the Indianmeal moth larva that Luke mentions). Mealworms are larvae of darkling beetles, but as such, they cannot produce silk/web like many species of caterpillars can. This is why context is so important. Without that piece of information, we would have provided a false identification (which is not to say that we have not provided incorrect identifications in the past, even with ample context: we’re only human after all!).

“I had been outside under a tree and came inside to use the bathroom”, writes Judy in her submission regarding the white, worm-like creature pictured below. “I found this in my underwear. I have never seen one again, inside or outside. I have found some pictures that look like it, but I’m not sure which one is which. The picture of the worm is on a washcloth and is small. Do I need to be concerned?” To begin with, we want to thank Judy for the photo and context, both of which have made it far easier for us to identify the worm-like critter she is asking about. We believe she has found a clothes moth caterpillar.

“Over the last two weeks I have been finding these white worm-like things randomly around the house (stove stop, wood floors, granite counters)”, writes Emily in her submission regarding the array of different-looking organisms pictured below. “I’ve also been finding what I believe are either dried up worms like these, or possibly shedding? There are a slew of other random bits I’ve been finding throughout the house (white grubby things, yellowish crusty bits, yellowish orange smears on cabinets). I’ve had two different pest control people come to look and they keep saying this is “normal house debris”, but in the twelve years I’ve been in my home, I’ve never had this. I do a thorough counter wipe down, vacuum, wet mop each night and I find this “house debris” again in the morning.”

“Can you identify this?” asks Deborah in her submission, in which she attached the photograph below. “It was found attached to a sticky substance inside a mattress cover.” Now, we assume she means the tangle of hair/fur, though there is also an oblong object in the photo that is partly brown and partly a silver-gray color, and we are not sure if she could be referring to that: given its shape, perhaps it is a worm-like creature. That said, it looks more like a rusty pen. It would have been helpful in this case to receive more context from Deborah, but alas, we’ll have to make do!

“I’ve seen these worms the last two mornings on my kitchen floor next to my rabbit cage”, writes Matthew about the curious creature pictured below. “Can you identify them? They’re TINY, with a half white, half black body.” First of all, thank you for the excellent photograph Matthew: we see exactly what you mean by the worm’s half white, half black body, and this is something we haven’t quite seen before. The thinner, white part resembles that of a generic insect larva (many of them being a similar, translucent white color), while the thicker, black part looks almost like a shell encasing the lower half of the worm.

“Can you help me identify this?” asks Cheryl about the white and brown, organic-looking matter pictured below.” I live in Las Vegas and found this while cleaning my broom.” Firstly, we must point out that the matter in the photo does not have any recognizable characteristics of a living worm-like organism, especially the two oddly-shaped, brown pieces of matter next to the long, white thing, which looks more like it could have something to do with worms. Secondly, we want to bring attention to the brown object nearer the bottom of the photo, and the seemingly translucent nature of what looks like folded pieces of thin material. We think this looks like it could be the shed skin of a larva or full-grown insect.

“Can you kindly identify this worm?” asks Lindsey in her submission regarding the white, worm-shaped organism pictured below. “The hair on top moves around like a feeler.” She does not add more context than this, and given how vague the photo is, we are not sure we can give her a concrete answer to her question. The worm almost looks like it is under a sheet, or some kind of fabric – as if it is struggling to break through it. As such, the hair on top looks like it is likely just a stray fiber from that material. For these reasons, we are not even sure what the true color of the organism is.

“Does anyone know what these brown rice-shaped casings are?” is all this reader asks in her submission regarding the ovate object pictured below. Well, to start with, we want to commend our reader on the excellent photo she has taken: it truly makes things easier when we try to identify the organisms our readers are asking about. When it comes to this particular organism, or potential “casing”, we would say this looks like a pupa. The pupal stage is the third one in an insect’s life cycle: the first being the egg stage, the second being the larval stage, and the third and final being the adult stage (when they have matured into a fully-formed insect, like a moth or a fly).

“I would love to know what these are and if they are harmful to my other specimens”, states this reader in her submission regarding the semi-transparent, yellow, worm-like creature with a red head pictured below. It is a bit difficult to spot among all the dark objects in the photo, but in the center you can see the clear worm-like critter making its way between these objects.”

“What fresh hell is this?” asks this reader about the larva-like creature buried in a piece of lint pictured below. He describes it as having a “long white body and dark head.”

“I really hope you can help us” pleads this reader in Oklahoma, who is concerned about the “long, very thin, clear worm things” she has been finding in her clothes. “I don’t think that they are parasitic, but they are seriously horrible.” Upon moving in to a new place, our reader discovered these organisms on her clothing. After drying her clothes, the spots in which the worms were found were still damp. “I have tried everything I could think of to get them out of our clothes, but nothing has helped,” she reports. At this point, all of her clothes are infested, and she is looking for help from us.

“I’m really freaked out. Please help!” exclaims our reader in her submission concerning the larvae and casings she recently found in her sofa. “The worms are white with a tiny bit of brown on the end.”

“A couple of worms” have been found on a bunk bed where this reader’s cat was laying, and she wonders if we can tell her what they are. Our reader’s son discovered the worms, which are approximately 4mm (1/5-inch) in length, “slightly yellowish/brown” but “a little darker at both ends”, have legs and appear to be segmented.

What seems to be a variety of organisms of various appearances have been found by this reader, who sent us screenshots she took from a video showcasing the organisms moving. The first pictures displays what looks to be a collection of brown and/or tan pieces of matter, the second showcasing the worm that “looks like a piece of hair but isn’t”, and the third shows the “fuzzy” “sack” that is taken through the lens of a microscope.

One of our readers recently sent in a picture of a “worm-looking thing” they have been finding on their bed at “random occasions”. Upon zooming in on the photograph our reader sent in, the worm in question appears to be a clear-white color, with a dark spot on one end of its body, which we assume to be its head, and a slightly darker inside.

Troves of little worms were found on this woman’s bed, and from perusing our website, she guesses that they may be moth larvae. The worms in question were specifically found on a white cardigan on her bed that had been left out to dry on our reader’s washing line, and appear to be tiny in size and black in color, though it difficult to tell as the picture and video are taken from afar.

A reader recently found a larva on a blanket in her closet. She described it as being tan in color, with a black head, and no stripes.

A reader recently sent in this image of a cluster of worms she found on her bed. In the words of our reader, the worms appear to be short, fat and white.

We have explained why case bearing moth larvae and carpet beetle larvae are sometimes found together or near each other. Neither of these creatures is actually harmful, but they can be destructive and are therefore both considered to be pests.

One of our readers discovered two specimens on her bed: case bearing clothes moth larvae and carpet beetle larvae. Both of these larvae are considered to be household pests, so it is important that our reader begin cleaning to get rid of them ASAP to keep the damage to a minimum.