A reader discovered some reddish brown worms with ugly faces in her shower. We suggest she see a doctor about this situation, because she has expressed concern that these creatures might be coming from her.

A reader of ours in Seward, Alaska sent us a photograph of a cluster of worms that he found in Exit Glacier. The group of worms look to be small and white and seem to move together like a snake. After viewing the photograph, it is very possible that these are fungus gnat larvae.

Believe it or not, in some parts of the world insects are considered a delicacy. In some countries, crickets are…

A reader wrote to us about some creatures she has been finding in her condo. She said they are very tiny, and that she usually finds them near the bathroom or in the closet. She is hopeful we can identify them and advise her on how to make her place less appealing to these worm-like organisms.

A while back, a reader asked us which types of millipedes emit a horrible odor when threatened or stepped on. (Technically, the reader asked about “minipedes,” but we’ll assume this was a typo, unless they really are interested in knowing the nonexistent smell of an online ship that sells baby shoes in the UK.) In other words, which millipedes smell bad when threatened or attacked in some way. This is a simple enough question, but we’ll have to answer it in somewhat general terms because there are around 10,000 species in the Diplopoda class, which millipedes make up, so we of course can’t list every single millipede that smells bad (nor in truth do we know of all the millipedes that smell bad). So, we will focus on the following, more general question: why do millipedes smell bad?

At a minimum of 8 inches long, the ribbon worms body is long and lean with finlike appendages. Some giant ribbon worm species or ‘Lineus longissimus’ may reach up to 100 feet long.

A reader recently submitted a question via the All About Worms Facebook page about a worm “coming out of the ground” in his garden. The most distinguishing characteristic of the worm is that it is “very thin, almost like nylon fish line,” and it moves in a “swaying motion.” The reader only asked if what he found is a type of worm, but we’ll do him one better by identifying the exact worm we think he found: a horsehair worm (occasionally spelled “horse hair worm”). Since horsehair worms are nematodes (roundworms), they are actually worms, not just creatures that everyday language, with its understandable but often frustrating contempt for scientific precision, has wrangled into the “worm category.”

A reader from Australia requested assistance in identifying some worms he’s found in his bathroom. He says that they are 3 mm – 4 mm (0.11” – 0.15”) long, black, and drop from the bathroom ceiling on threads. Once they land, they walk end over end. It is summer in Australia and he says that the temperature is around 40 ? (~104?). He would like to know what they are because they are freaking him out.

“Found these worms in the backyard and there are a lot!” exclaims this reader in his submission regarding the segmented, yellow worm-like critter pictured below. “I have a small garden there with an orange tree, but the garden is unattended. What are those? They seem to be active in the night and light attracts them I think.” Based on the excellent photo our reader sent in, as well as the helpful context, we would conclude that these are mealworms. Mealworms are the larval stage of the mealworm beetle, which is a species of darkling beetle. As our reader correctly stated, mealworms are nocturnal, and while they are not necessarily attracted to light, they can sense it.

We recently received a question from a reader who found an interesting creature in her toilet. She found it a while after anyone had last used the toilet, so it is unlikely that it came from a human. She said she has done a lot of research, but has been unable to match it to anything she has discovered.

One of our readers wrote to us and asked us if worms can see and if so how do they do so. This is a question that has come up a lot with our readers. There are quite a few types of worms that are blind, but some worms have specific ways of seeing or sensing light in order to crawl their way around the soil or a specific place.

We just received a message on our Facebook page from a concerned reader about some worms she spotted in her house. She wrote that there are a ton of very small black worms that she didn’t notice at first because her house is covered in mold. She said there are “millions” of these worms spread throughout her bedroom and that she no longer wants to sleep in that room because one of the walls is soaking wet with mold. The walls that aren’t covered in mold are infested with these worms. She is in distress and needs help with this infestation

Although our site is called “All About Worms” we deal with a variety of different creatures that aren’t technically worms. Often, when people reach out to us about a specimen they have discovered in their home, it is actually larvae of a moth or fly. However, on occasion, our readers do in fact discover worms. Most often, these are earthworms, and so this is what we will focus on. This post will inform readers of the simple way to remove earthworms from their homes using natural and non-toxic methods.

The Woolly Worm festival (sometimes spelled as “Wooly Worm” festival) draws 25,000 Woolly Worm enthusiasts annually to Banner Elk, North Carolina to see these fuzzy, woolly worms (actually caterpillars) race.

The Mongolian Death Worm, a deadly beast said to be two to five feet in length, has never been confirmed. Nor, however, has the Mongolian Death Worm ever been disproved.

While many myths surround the tequila worm, the number one question about the tequila worm is “do people really eat it?”

“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.

“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.

“I’m a wildlife carer and currently have two baby noisy miners. Today I found the photographed larvae (?) in their nest”, writes Lee in her submission regarding the translucent creature with dark entrails pictured below. “Was hoping to find out what it is.” For context for our other readers, a noisy miner is a type of bird endemic to Australia. It is very pretty, with grey, white, and yellow markings, and is named after its noisy nature. From the photo alone, we are not sure what these creatures are that Lee found, though we do agree that they are probably larvae of some kind, given their shape and general physical appearance.

“What are the little black maggot-looking larvae that are in creeks?” asks Crystal in her submission. “They live under leaves and they are only in creeks once a year. I used to fish with them but I don’t know what they are.” Crystal does not attach any photos to her submission, which makes it much harder to narrow down the list of suspects for this creature that Crystal is searching for. Unfortunately, there are a lot of worm-like creatures that fit Crystal’s description. They could be anything from millipedes to rosemary beetle larvae to leeches. With that said, we have tried to narrow down our educated guesses to two species that are more “maggot-looking” than the others, and which tend to live near creeks and streams.