A woman in Texas has been finding all sorts of critters across her home, including the white, worm-like creature pictured below. Her story is as follows: “Since mid-July, I have dealt with the repercussions of forgetting to leave my A/C on during the day time, and coming home two or three times to see that my thermostat read 90°F or higher. Here is one of the many bugs I’ve come across after. I’m assuming some eggs hatched in the midst of the extreme heat. This particular one I found in my carpet, burrowed upside-down where I can see the butt sticking out from the carpet. Along with others that are along my baseboards, and black, cocoon-type things the size of rice. There have been moths and flies, as well as carpet beetles that are tiny. And long, oval-shaped, brown-with-light-brown patches all around my house (we live outside of town in west Texas, where the dirt blows and the heat/rain brings all the bugs inside). Can you tell me what kind of larvae these are? They’re literally everywhere.”

“We have a six year-old peach tree”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the translucent organisms pictured below. “This is the first year that we’ve had any peaches. Some of them have things on them. Are they worms/larvae or sap? Thank you.” Now, after we did some sleuthing, we came to the conclusion that while these clear objects are the result of insect larvae, they are not the larvae themselves. Let us explain. Although we are no experts on gardening and fruit, we believe our reader’s peaches are experiencing trauma due being fed on by some type of insect.

“What is it in the bathroom (live, ~8-10 mm)? Best regards,” is all this reader writes in his submission regarding the black, worm-like creature pictured below. Although our reader does not give a lot of context surrounding the worm’s discovery, knowing the location it was found in, and seeing what it looks like, leads us to believe that this is a drain fly larva. Commonly known also as sewage flies, sink flies, filter flies and moth flies (due to the adult insect’s stout furry body), drain fly larvae are common household pests that show up near people’s drains, hence the name.

“I found these worms in our towel closet in the restroom”, writes this reader about the near-transparent, worm-like creature pictured below. “I then washed all of the linens and towels that were in the closet and sprayed down the whole closet. Looking for the source of the worms. So far I have not found that source but I have identified a couple of things that I believe to be eggs. I also then found the same worms coming from the seam of my dresser, and I have not looked anywhere else yet, but I would like some help please thank you.”

“I found thin, white-colored worms in my garden”, writes Bree in her submission. “They were about an inch long, hanging upside down from my planter boxes and wiggling around. They did not appear to be hanging by any thread and it had rained a lot today if that helps.” Now, we have to say that we cannot actually see the worms Bree is talking about in the photos. We do not know if she means the thin, white, long objects littered across the soil in the photo, though those look like twigs, but since they were meant to only be an inch long, we assume she doesn’t mean these.

“Found these worms in the back yard and there are a lot!” writes this reader in Greece about the light brown, segmented creature 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 at night and light attracts them, I think.” Firstly, we want to thank our reader for the great photo. Clear photos like this one greatly help us identify the creatures that we are asked about. Secondly, we have identified this as a mealworm.

“What is this that is doing this to my house?” is all Alicia writes in her submission regarding what we presume to be a wooden door frame, pictured below. Now, we have to start by saying that we are not quite sure what we are looking at, which makes it hard to know what to look for. Typically, when people send pictures of wooden structures, they are concerned about wood-eating/-boring insects, like wood-boring beetles or termites. But Alicia also includes two other photos, one of which is also pictured below, which show other types of matter that bear no resemblance to the first photo.

Clear, white, worm-like creatures are crawling on this reader’s palm tree and potentially causing damage to it, and he wants answers as to what is happening. “In my front yard I have a Queen Palm tree that is about fifteen years old”, he writes in his submission. “A couple days ago I noticed a brown liquid running down the side of the palm’s trunk and as soon as the sun goes down, I can see small white colored insects crawling in the brown liquid/sap. I was wondering if you might know what kind of insect is causing the problem and if you have any tips on how to treat my tree. Here are a few pictures. Thank you.”

“I was taking a bath when I saw two small worms in it with me”, writes Pam in her submission about the tiny, black worm-like creatures pictured below. “I want to make sure that they are not harmful. They had larger “heads” and thinner yellow and black tails. I have never seen them before.” To start with, we want to thank Pam for the excellent photos she sent us: the resolution is so good that we can even see the finest details on these critters when zooming in on the photos. And it was because of this that we managed to come to a conclusion regarding their identity. Well, sort of.

“Are these fabric moths and carpet beetles?” asks Shanan about the two different objects pictured below, one pink and stringy, and the other a tangled mess of greenish-gray threads. “I’ve been at war with them for about three years now. I’ve sprayed numerous pesticides, different dusts, and vacuumed until my arms fell off! I’ve had to move, get a new car, and buy brand new clothes more times than I can count. Tip: New clothes are infested as well. They also like to munch on my hair. I’m at the end of my rope. Please help. I live in Southeast Georgia. These are pieces of material that I cut out of a brand new jacket!”

“I found this in my backyard the other night while digging up roots”, writes Marlene about the milky-white, worm-like creature pictured below. “I have never seen anything like this before, and it is quite ugly. It was about three inches long, rather chubby, and black on one end, with what looked like purple veins going through it. I live in southern New Jersey (Gloucester County). There are no lakes or ponds close to my yard. Just curious about what is living in my yard and possibly creating a family. Thank you.” Well, based on the excellent photo that Marlene sent in, we think that the “ugly” worm-like critter she found is a wood-boring beetle larva.

“What are these worms?” asks Ruby about the group of yellow creatures with brown heads pictured below. “They are mainly in the bedroom but there are also some in the living room. I live in Katy, Texas. Thank you.” Well, we thank Ruby for the excellent photo she sent in. We can clearly see their dark yellow coloration, as well as the segmentation of their bodies, which has us concluding that these are mealworms. Mealworms are not actually worms at all, but larvae. Larvae are young insects that look a bit like worms. Their goal at this stage of life is to eat as much as possible so that they can store up energy for pupation: the stage that comes before adulthood. During pupation, they metamorphose into their adult form, like a caterpillar (which is a larva!) metamorphoses into a butterfly or moth.

“What is this?” is all Rocky asks about the brown worm-shaped creature pictured below. It is unfortunate that Rocky does not provide any context, as that always helps us narrow down the possibilities for what the given organism might be, especially when the photo does not already tell us what it is. And in this case, we cannot tell what this critter is based on the photo: it kind of looks like a cigarette or a dried up worm. Our best guess is that this is a mealworm, and we base this solely on its coloration. Mealworms also possess clear segmentation that we cannot see from the photo, but we suppose that, given the low resolution of the photo, the segmentation could just not be visible on the photo.

“Please tell me what these nasty terrible awful things are?” asks this reader in her submission regarding the light brown bug pictured below. “They look like tiny worms, but zooming in on the camera you can see they have lots of little legs. They obviously hatch into something because they leave the worm-like shell behind but I noticed them in my car a few weeks ago. I’ve vacuumed like a madman and it doesn’t seem to be getting rid of them: they just keep multiplying and I’m so freaked out by this that I’m almost ready to take a huge loss on my vehicle! Help! I have no idea how to get rid of these things!”

A species of earthworm commonly referred to as a ‘jumping worm’ has made its way to North America, namely the Asian jumping worm (Amynthas agrestis), and its introduction into California’s habitats has caused concern for the ecosystem. Asian jumping worms get their name from their ability to leap as high as a foot into the air. They also have a general tendency to squirm and flail around when disturbed, which is typically when they will also jump: it is a defense mechanism they use to get away from predators. The Minnesota Department of Resources uploaded a “YouTube video about jumping worms” which shows the worms’ erratic behavior.

“I found this worm-like creature on my pillow today”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the light brown, striped critter pictured below. “I need help identifying what it is, and would like any other helpful info you may have. It has some strands coming out of one end of it. Thank you!” Firstly, we want to thank our reader right back, for sending in her submission to us. Secondly, we want to present our reader with an identification: the worm-like creature she found is a carpet beetle larvae. Unfortunately for her, carpet beetle larvae are notorious house pests which can spawn massive infestations that can damage a lot of the items in her home.

“The below was found on a carpet near a clothing closet in Manhattan, NYC”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the creature pictured below. “Please advise. Thank you!” The creature in question appears to be striped, with alternating colors of beige and brown, and has an ovate, bristly body. Based on its appearance alone, we would say that this is a carpet beetle larva, though the location it was found in also supports this conclusion.

“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.”

“I found these clear strands (worms?) on every item of fabric in my home”, states this reader in Hawaii. “They are on my clothes, rugs, couches, and towels. EVERYTHING! They attach on one end and stick out of the fabric. They are very thin, like hair, but kind of kinky.”

“What are these?” asks this reader about the brown creatures pictured below. “Tons of them in the drain pipe, but they don’t look like drain fly larvae. Thank you!” The creatures above look stubby and thick, brown in color, with black antennae and what appears to be a layer of grayish slime oozing from their undersides.