“What are these worms? What should I do about this?” asks this reader about the transparent worms she and her sister found on their bed. After cleaning their room and killing insects that they found, our reader discovered no possible cause for the presence of these insects.

The pictures above and below are screenshots from a series of videos our reader sent in. We have also included one of the videos (see below), but not the other two, so as to protect the privacy of our reader and her sister. Some of the worms were found underneath a pillow, while others were roaming about on the bed. Our reader states that there were a lot of them, and that they were found in the morning. They were not there the night before.

“We do have a cat, but we don’t let it sleep on the bed or even lay on it.” As stated previously, the room was cleaned, and no rotten food was found, though our reader and her sister did “encounter lots of insects,” only some of which they killed. As such, she guesses that these might be some type of insect larvae. However, she is not sure of that, and she “badly wants to know more about this and what to do to completely eliminate them.” We understand our reader’s feelings regarding this, and we will do our best to help her.

Now, based on the physical characteristics of the creatures (the clear bodies and dark entrails), as well as the location in which they were found, we have concluded that these are flea larvae. So, our reader was completely correct in assuming that these were insect larvae. Although adult fleas are harmful to pets, such as dogs and cats, their larvae are not. Flea larvae will feed on hair, dead insects, faeces, and other organic debris. Unfortunately, it seems as though our reader’s cat has not been obeying the rule of not laying in the bed, as it is most likely that the cat brought the flea larvae into the home.

On that note, we recommend that our reader take her cat to the vet to get checked for fleas, as they can be very unpleasant for animals to deal with. This will also prevent future infestations of flea larvae. Likewise, when it comes to the larvae already present, we recommend that our reader cleans the room a few more times, and specifically that she launders all the sheets, pillow cases, clothing, and other textiles that the flea larvae could potentially be inhabiting. Likewise, she should clean any areas in which the cat typically rests, and do so thoroughly. Vacuuming all areas of the home is also vital in catching any flea eggs and other roaming larvae.

She should also check the rest of her home for more roaming larvae, and be on the lookout for a couple of weeks. If more larvae are found in those weeks, then she needs to just repeat the laundering and vacuuming process until no more larvae are found.

To conclude, the worms our reader and her sister found on their bed are flea larvae. They are not dangerous to humans or animals, but their adult counterparts are harmful to pets. For that reason, we urge our reader to get help for her cat, and that she follows the advice above to eliminate the infestation, as well as prevent future ones. We hope this article helps, and we wish her and her sister the very best!

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