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.

One of our readers has asked about “hard shelled worms about 1/2 to 1 inches long that curl into a…

A reader in Cairo, Egypt asks for our help after discovering a worm-like creature crawling on his bed cover. The creature appears to be black and white, with a segmented, elongated body.

“I found this grub/worm on a packaged stuffed dog toy I ordered online”, writes Sarah in her submission regarding the segmented, brown, worm-like creature pictured below. “It was stuck to the fabric on a white patch that looked a bit like egg sac remnants? There was only one that I could find. What is it?” Now, what caught us off guard about this creature at first were the six appendages sticking out from one end of the creature’s body. It took us a moment to realize that the critter was upside down, and that these were its prolegs! Once we gathered that, we figured it must be some type of beetle larva, as the body shape, segmentation, and presence of prolegs point to this conclusion.

The small brown worm our reader found on her bed is a carpet beetle larva. Unfortunately, these organisms can be really annoying and destructive, but luckily our reader only found a single larva, so she should be able to start cleaning in time to prevent an infestation.

“I woke up this morning, granted the second day of a new home and all over the living room floor there were little whitish, worm-looking things”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the organisms pictured below. “What are they? Where did they come from? And how do I get rid of them?” Our reader asks all the right questions, and to answer her first one, we think these are blow fly larvae. ‘Blow fly’ as a term refers generally to a large group of flies (known as an order) called Diptera. The adult flies are characterized by their glossy, metallic bodies, which are typically green, blue, or black in color.

“Tonight I went to use the bathroom to urinate but when I looked down I noticed a living worm there”, writes Alberto in his submission regarding the dark, long, worm-like creature pictured below. “My first thought was that the worm came from me, and that it was a parasite (I did use the bathroom in the morning, but I didn’t use the bathroom until the night when I saw the worm), but when I started researching in Google it didn’t seem like the worm looked like the typical parasite that infects humans. Those seem to be white or cream, while this worm looks black with a bit of red and some transparent parts when it stretches. Also I didn’t have any symptoms the days before, like itching, however I did have some light digestive looseness the day before, but I think I’m pretty sure it was something I ate the same day, but I’m not sure though. I did take a dewormer just in case, but I would like to be sure if that worm could be a parasite that came from me. I’d leave a video and some other pics of the worm, thank you very much! I live in Monterrey, Mexico.”

“What is this?” asks Jennifer in her submission regarding the semi-translucent worm with black markings pictured below. “I found this in my bathroom sink while brushing my teeth. It was wriggling near the sink drain. The picture is magnified several times.” We think Jennifer has found herself a drain fly larva, and it is quite incredible that she captured it in such detail, especially considering the photo is magnified. These guys are really tiny, and to the naked eye they just look like little black worms, so we commend Jennifer on the excellent photo! Neither drain fly larvae or the mature flies are harmful to humans, though they can prove to be quite the nuisance.

“Is this a case-bearing clothes moth?” asks this reader in her submission regarding the silver moth pictured below. “I’m in Georgia. Thank you for your time.” Now, while we are in the business of identifying the worm-like offspring of insects, we are not the best people to ask about adult insects, so we will have to warn our reader that the information and advice we provide may not be the most credible she could find. With that said, we will do our best to identify this organism and help her. With that said, our opinion is that she has already done the bulk of the work for us, because this does indeed look like a case-bearing clothes moth.

“I found the worms in the attached photo in the toilet in my basement which is not frequently used”, writes Emma in her submission regarding the mass of worms pictured below. “This is the second time we have found worms in this toilet in the past six months. Would you be able to identify them for me? Thank you!” Unfortunately, Emma’s photo is taken so far away from the worms that when we zoom in, the details become too blurry for us to give a confident and accurate identification. That said, we will still give an educated guess based on the general shape and coloration of the worms.

“Infested house and garden, two and a half years trying to get rid of them”, starts Paula in her submission regarding the blurry creature with multiple appendages pictured below. “I’m disabled and can’t get any help. I’ve spent thousands on deadbeat alleged insect killer firms. Please help me.” Unfortunately, since the photo is so blurry, we will only be able to provide an educated guess as to the identity of this organism, as opposed to a confident and accurate identification. With that said, we are somewhat confident in our guess, as the outline of this creature’s shapes and what we assume to be its many legs points us in one direction: centipedes.

“My home is infested inside and out with thin white worms that appear to be accompanied by or some stage of a thin black worm”, writes Shari in her submission regarding the worm pictured below. “They scatter through the air with the slightest disturbance. I tried spraying them down with bleach attached to water hoses, but they just end up floating in the air and landing on me. Pest control has been no help in identifying. I live in Sarasota, Florida. My house is old, built in 1959 and had a major plumbing issue. Cast iron pipes broke underground and the entire plumbing clogged up. It was so bad water was coming out of the vent pipe on the roof. I’m wondering if this worm issue is related to the plumbing. Especially since the pipes broke underground.”

“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.

“Can you please identify this moth type?” asks Shanan in her submission regarding the white moth with delicate, feathery wings pictured below. “I’m in South Georgia. I found this moth in my bedroom dresser. Thank you for your time.” Typically, we do not identify full-grown insects, but rather their offspring: larvae. That is simply because the nature of our website is to identify worms and worm-like organisms, which larvae are included in. With that said, we will still give this a crack, though Shanan should keep in mind that this identification may not be 100% accurate given that this is not our area of expertise.

“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.

“What is this worm?” asks Billie in her submission regarding the brown-striped creature pictured below. “I found them on my children’s bedroom floor. We thought we had powderpost beetle infestation because we have small holes in some of our new hardwood floors. Maybe these bugs are unrelated? I found three at 6:30 in the morning after turning on the lights. The largest is probably less than 1/4 inch long.” We can tell Billie straight away that this is not a powderpost beetle or a powderpost beetle larva (which are white in color with a small black spot on its head), but is a carpet beetle larva. Billie may have heard of carpet beetles before: they are a notorious pest that do not feed on hardwood floors, but the rugs and carpets we put on top of them.

“We found these worms in one of our toilets after returning thirteen days later”, writes Jerry in his submission regarding the many, tiny, black, worm-like creatures pictured below. “No one used this toilet while we were gone. This toilet is on the second floor.” Considering the worms’ appearance and the context in which Jerry found them, we think he has found drain fly larvae. Also known as moth flies due to their stout, furry bodies which resemble moths more than the common house fly, drain flies are notorious bathroom pests. They are not pests so far as doing any real damage to the items in one’s home, but infestations of them can be hard to tackle and the flies can thereby become a real nuisance.

“I found this in my bathroom and don’t know what it is”, writes Dainé in her submission regarding the bristly, black worm pictured below. “Could you please help me?” We are, of course, happy to help Dainé identify this creature. Although she does not provide much context, the little that we are provided, coupled with the fantastic photo, is enough for us to identify this organism, which is a drain fly larva. Otherwise known as moth flies, drain flies are commonly considered pests, though we would argue they really are not: they do not damage anything in the home, and they pose no real health threat other than potentially causing asthmatic reactions if an infestation of them is left for too long. Drain flies are attracted to bathrooms which have been left uncleaned or unused for a long time, laying its eggs on the organic film that forms in the lip of drains.

“What is this?” is all Kelly Jo writes about the segmented, white worm-like critters pictured below. It looks to us like the creatures are on a bed post, but that is mere speculation based on the little we can make out from the photo. Without more context, it will not be possible for us to give an exact identification, because the physical characteristics of this creature are so commonplace among worm-like creatures that it could be any number of things. With that said, we do think it is some type of insect larva (given the brown head and segmented body), and we will list some of the most likely creatures it could be, provided Kelly Jo found the creature in her home.

“I have an infestation of white moving little things coming out of the corners of every room”, writes Debbie in her submission, which unfortunately does not include any photos. “They’re different sizes and very small and they stick to whatever they can and you can’t break them away from it. They also are in my neighbors house and all over her house counter tops and on her clothes. They can break apart and still live. Their texture is like a human being booger out if their nose. Please help if you know anything about this. Please respond.” We will say that we will not be able to identify this worm with 100% accuracy or certainty, given the lack of photo and how vague the physical descriptions are. All we can do is make some educated guesses.