A few worms have been found inside a bathtub inside this reader’s bathroom in his home. A photograph of one of these worms next to a cotton earbud tells us that this worm is minuscule in size, clear-white in color, and is dark on the inside.

Our reader suspects that these worms are coming out of the bathtub drain, saying that the worms “seem quite comfortable in a wet environment” and furthermore that “their bodies contract/stiffen defensively when touched.” This is demonstrated in the video our reader also kindly provided (linked below). Our reader wishes to know what these worms are, and if they are harmful in any way to children especially. He wants to know where they came from and how to get rid of them.

To answer our reader’s question of what these worms are, we believe that these are ant larvae. Given their size and appearance, as well as presence in the home, this is a feasible conclusion to make. Naturally, as our reader only found the larvae, we cannot be sure what species of ants these are, given that there are thousands. Ants, as we all know, are incredible insects. They are able to create complex ecosystems underground in sand or soil, with tunnels snaking every which way that they successfully navigate. They can also be incredibly strong and can carry immense loads of up to 50 times their own body weight. Unfortunately, ants also infest people’s homes quite frequently. They do this especially during the colder seasons as they want to find more favorable temperatures to lay eggs. They also invade in search of food, shelter from harsh weather, and to escape dry climates.

So, we come to the question of how to get rid of these critters. Naturally, we never recommend the use of pesticides/insecticides, but in this case especially one will not want to use them. Ants have a tendency to invade kitchens especially, and if this is the case, then having toxic chemicals being spread all over one’s kitchen is not ideal, nor healthy. The main thing one can do is implement methods of practically removing the existing organisms and further preventing more infestations from occurring. To remove the ants, one can bait the colony using sweet or fried foods, and then eliminate them using a simple mixture or soap and water. It seems, however, that in the case of our reader, he has only found larvae at this point, and thus if there are not adult ants around, but the eggs were abandoned to hatch into larvae, then baiting them will not be necessary. It will be far easier to deal with the ants if there are only larvae, as they are slow, and can thus just be scooped up and thrown outside. Then the question arises of preventing them from simply coming back in. The obvious way to prevent insects from coming into one’s home is sealing off any of the possible cracks and gaps that they might have come through in the first place. This can include cracks in one’s walls and baseboards, splits in window screens, or damaged screen doors. If worse comes to worst, we recommend calling pest control and having them deal with the infestation, as ant infestations are some of the most common infestations that they deal with, and should be fairly simple to handle.

To conclude, the larvae our reader found in his tub are ant larvae. They are not harmful to children, and a queen ant probably just wandered in one day and laid eggs as she thought the conditions of the indoors were ideal for egg-hatching. We are certain that if our reader implements the methods listed above, or calls pest control, he can be rid of this issue in no time. And the best of luck to him!