Category: Garden Worms
Grubs on Dining Room Floor are Acorn Weevil Larvae
“What is this worm that I keep finding on my dining room floor?” asks Stacey in her submission regarding the white worm pictured below. “We have looked and can’t find them anywhere, but all of a sudden we find them in the morning and we clean them up. And when we get home in the afternoon we find a couple more.” Based on the excellent photo Stacey sent in, we think she found an acorn weevil larva. Acorn weevils are brown beetles that bore holes through acorns to lay their eggs inside. Once they hatch, the larvae will eat the insides of the acorns until they fall from the tree, after which the larvae will bore a new hole through the acorns to exit from, and consequently tunnel into the soil to pupate (the process of metamorphosing into the adult insect).
Black Worm with Curved Back is an Inchworm
“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.
Velvety, Black, Worm-like Creatures in Apartment are Soldier Beetle Larvae
“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!”
Tubular, Orange ‘Worms’ are Actually Mushrooms
“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.
Bundle of Clear Worms on Website are Newly-hatched Caterpillars
“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.
Pink Worm with Forked Rear is a Beetle Larva
“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.
Segmented Brown Worm in Gutter Looks Like a Hornworm
“We live in the east San Francisco Bay Area and while on a walk, my daughter and I caught sight of these little guys crawling in a gutter area with about 1-2”of runoff water in front of our neighborhood houses”, writes Chrissy in her submission regarding the segmented, brown, worm-like critter pictured below. “There are trees above a few spots, and upstream, no trees. They are about an inch in length and seemed to resemble caterpillars, but we’re a bit flatter. They’d walk around underwater and when resting, typically had one end up floating at the surface of the water. I’m attaching two photos as we are curious about what they are! We’re hoping they’re not leeches. Thanks so much!” Of the two photos, we included the clearest one, but unfortunately, it is still difficult to discern the smaller details of the critter’s physical characteristics from this photo. Not only is the resolution not the best, but it blends in so well with the environment that it is difficult to tell which parts belong to the worm and which parts do not.
Hundreds of Plump Grubs in Mulch are Chafer Beetle Larvae
“What type of grub do you think these are?” asks Pat in her submission regarding the dozens of plump, white, worm-like critters pictured below. “Hundreds in my mulch.” Well, despite the fact that Pat did not include that much context, we know exactly what these are based on the fantastic photo she sent us (which we thank her for). These guys are chafer beetle larvae/grubs. You cannot get more grub-like than a chafer beetle larva: they are the token grub (‘grub’ being a term that loosely refers to any larva of a beetle, but which has, over the years, started to refer specifically to beetle larvae of this appearance).
Black and Yellow-winged Bug is a Jarvis’ fruit fly
“What is this bug?” is all this reader asks in his submission regarding the black and yellow, winged bug pictured below. We have to admit, we are no experts on insects, despite identifying a lot of insect larvae. Our speciality is worms and worm-like organisms (which includes larvae), but not fully-grown insects. Nonetheless, we will do our best to give some possible identifications of the creature in the photo. From the sleuthing we did, we think this could be a fruit fly or a wasp. Specifically, it looks most like a Bactrocera jarvisi, AKA Jarvis’ fruit fly.
Do Palm Tree Borers Infect Humans?
“Can a human get worm borers from palm trees?” asks Chris in his submission. “I am a tree trimmer and want to know if the borers can get in a human?” Chris asks some good questions here, and the short answers to his question are ‘no’ and ‘yes’: we will explain why exactly that’s the case. To start with, we have to address that Chris did not send in any photos, and as there are multiple types of palm borers, we do not know exactly which species Chris is referring to. For example, there is the palm borer moth caterpillar (Paysandisia archon), but there is also the palm borer beetle larva (Dinapate wrightii), both of which resemble worms. Fortunately, it does not really matter in this case, given Chris’ question, as the answer will be the same across the board for every palm borer species.
Small Black Worms Swarming Home Office are Inchworms
“Found these little guys on the floor of my home office”, writes Elle in her submission regarding the minuscule, black, worm-like organisms pictured below. “Seemed to be all clustered together in one spot. Not able to find/see any anywhere else within the home. I suspect moth larvae after spending hours on google, but really not sure. Any ideas please? Many thanks.” To start with, we want to commend Elle on the excellent photos she sent in. The first one below captures (in incredible detail) one of the tiny critters. It is hard to photograph creatures this small in this much detail! The second photo shows just how many of the things she found in her office. Elle is completely right in suspecting these as moth larvae, cause that is exactly what they are. To be precise, she found inchworms.
Tiny, Black Worm-like Creatures Roaming Around Apartment are Inchworms
“I live in southern Ontario and I noticed these little guys roaming around my apartment (see picture)”, writes Rachel in her submission regarding the tiny, black, worm-like creature pictured below. “Just wondering if I should be concerned. They seem to just crawl on my floor, the side of my mattress, and on my clothes. I’ve washed everything and swept and mopped the floors, but it’s tough to get them all. I’m just hoping they don’t turn into moths in a couple of weeks if I missed one. I’m pretty clean to begin with (as I live in a small studio) so I’m really puzzled where they came from. Thanks!”
White, Segmented Worm with Pronged Rear is a Beetle Larva
“What is the specific type of this worm?” writes Imina in her submission regarding the segmented, cream-colored worm pictured below. “It is from my ceiling and drops onto my pillow every night.” To begin with, we have to commend Imina on the excellent photo she took, and thank her for taking a photo next to a rule, which is the best way for us to understand its size. This creature does not even reach one centimeter (approximately 0.4-inches) in length. It has a bulbous brown head and a similarly-colored prong on its rear. Based on its physical characteristics, we have concluded that this is a beetle larva.
Green Worm on Trousers is an Inchworm
“Found this worm on my trouser, where it looked like it matched the grey color and then it took over my pencil”, writes Abhinav in his submission regarding the curved, green, little critter pictured below. “As soon as it sensed danger, it left a green color liquid and died.” Firstly, we want to thank Abhinav for the great photo; he managed to capture an incredibly tiny creature in such great detail. Secondly, we want to point to our previous description of this worm as “curved”, which is actually a very important characteristic. It is because of the arch of this creature’s body that we immediately identified it as an inchworm.
Tiny Clear White Worms in Soil are Pot Worms
“I can’t figure out what this is”, writes Thomas in his submission regarding the thin, white worm-like creature pictured below. “I found it in my backyard soil. It’s extremely thin and maybe four inches long. You can see how small it is by the wire it’s crawling on for size and the mite that goes near it. It looked like a piece of fishing line at first but then I noticed it moving. It’s mostly clear/white in color with some black insides. I’ve been trying to find what it is but I can’t find anything similar to this. Do you know what it is? Thanks.” To start with, we want to thank Thomas for his incredible photo, which has definitely been magnified, as the green wire that the worm is crawling on looks like a pipe! We also want to thank him for the context which is super helpful.
White Worms With Brown Heads in Light Fixture are Beetle Larvae
“Can you identify the worm or larvae in the pictures I attached?” asks Nicholas in his submission regarding the white creature with a brown head pictured below. “These were found in my home in Plantation Florida. So far, they have been found mainly on the floor, within approximately a 15-foot diameter area. There were several found inside a ceiling mounted light, they are in the picture displaying several individuals. There is no apparent point from which they have emerged. They have not come from, or gotten to, any of our food supplies yet. It is a cool area, near our a/c unit, a bathroom (where the aforementioned ceiling light is), and a bedroom, with a small hall area connecting the areas. From this area, a few have made it toward our kitchen and dining room, but they have hopefully mostly all been caught. We have lived in this home for six years and this is the first time seeing these. I am aware they “look like” black fly maggots, but I have seen maggots many times, these appear different. Six legs I believe, no easily visible hairs. Any information you may provide would be greatly appreciated.”
Yellow Worms on Daffodils Could be Narcissus Bulb Fly Larvae
“I noticed these tiny, yellow worms in clusters on the tips of my daffodils (which have just started shooting from the bulb),” writes Desirée in her submission regarding the bright yellow organisms pictured below. “They look to have maybe newly hatched in the wet and seem to have been washed down the leaves when it rained, either into the plant or surrounding soil. Please see a close up of a cluster of the worms in a water drop. Could you please help with ID? I’m located in SE Victoria, Australia. Thanks for your help!” Now, although the pictures Desirée sent are quite blurry, we have arrived at an educated guess based on the context Desirée has provided. We think she has found daffodil fly larvae.
“Shape-shifting” White Critter Could be a Baby Slug
“Found on my desk when my cat jumped down”, writes Beverly about the “shape shifting”, white organism pictured below. “Approximately 1/2 an inch when elongated. I tried to kill it with insect repellent – no effect. Put it on a tray to photograph. It made the shape of a round blob, then a flattened square, a triangle next, before finally reaching out from the blob when changing directions, from no set point.” Beverly sent us multiple photographs, a couple of which we have included below that show these different shapes the organism makes. Now, provided this creature is worm-like, it would be flexible enough to contort its body in many different ways, which is a more plausible explanation than shape-shifting. Many worm-like organisms, such as the earthworm, can flex and relax the muscles in their body, which will extend and shorten their bodies, which can look as if the worm is changing shape. Likewise, slugs are able to do the same; when they feel threatened, they can effectively withdraw their head and antennae into their bodies and become a “blob” where before they were an elongated shape.
White Organisms Near ‘Dog’s Toilet Area’ are Wax Scales
“I found these near my dog’s toilet area in the garden,” writes Mary in her submission regarding the white organisms pictured below. “Are they larvae of some kind? They are about a quarter of an inch, the two bigger ones. Thank you for your help.” First off, we want to thank Mary for the excellent photos, the best of which we included below, as well as the context, which always helps us identify the organisms we are asked about and tailor our advice. The organisms Mary found are not larvae, but fully-grown insects known as wax scales (Ceroplastes). They are not harmful to dogs or humans, so Mary needs not worry on that front, but they are parasitic, and thereby harmful, to the plants they infest.
Do Earthworms Transfer Insect Eggs to New Soil?
“My garden plot has many thriving earth worms but, unfortunately, an infestation of grubs”, begins Ken in his submission. He did not attach any photos. “My plan is to swap out the infested soil for a new soil/compost mixture, while saving as many of the earthworms as I see while doing so, then adding them to the new soil. My question: is it possible that the earthworms would transfer grub eggs to the new soil by either having them attached to their bodies or from having ingested them? Thanks, I look forward to your answer.” To start off, we want to thank Ken for the fascinating question, one that fortunately does not require the addition of a photograph.