A reader recently reached out to us because she found an interesting creature in her toilet bowl. She explained that this is the second she has discovered this month, but in the past year she has found quite of few of them in the toilet bowl. She said the toilet is in the bathroom attached to the guest room of her home, so it is rarely used. Here is one of the photos she sent us:

Our reader also explained that a couple of years ago there were hornets getting into her house. The hole they were entering from was eventually blocked, and there are no signs of nests in the house. However, she wonders is these creatures might have anything to do with the hornets. Regardless of their relation to hornets, she wants to know what these organisms are and how to get rid of them for permanently. This photo provides a better close-up view of the creature in question:

As you can see, the creature is light brown with a bean-shaped body, and a long thin tail-like appendage. We are confident that this is a rat-tailed maggot! Rat-tailed maggots are the larvae of certain species of hoverflies. The tail-like appendage on its posterior end is actually a tube-like, telescoping breathing siphon that allows it to breathe while submerged under water!

Rat-tailed maggots live in stagnant, oxygen-deprived water full of organic content, which makes a toilet bowl a good home for them. These maggots are harmless, but their presence can be annoying to some people. To get rid of them, our reader should use a toilet bowl cleaner designed to kill decaying organic matter. This should eliminate the food source for these larvae. Since she has only been finding them in single digits, she can also simply remove them by hand and put them outside.

To summarize, a reader found a creature in her toilet bowl that she thought might be in relation to some hornets that were in her house a few years ago. We think the organisms are actually rat-tailed maggots!