“What are these?” asks this reader in the submission she sent us. “They are in my bed as well”, she continues, referring to the tiny, brownish creatures photographed below.

Right off the bat, we are going to have to say that we will unfortunately not be able to provide any certain identification of these worms. This is simply because the photo our reader sent us is too blurry for us to make out any of the organism’s finer characteristics. Without being able to make out the details of its body, all we get is a nondescript, brownish, worm-like shape, which could really be anything.

If our reader would like us to give identifying the creature another go, she is welcome to send more pictures, preferably of a better resolution. In any case, we will do what we can to help our reader given what we do have at our disposal.

There are a few worm-like creatures that people tend to find in their beds, namely carpet beetle larvae and flea larvae. We doubt this is either of the two species, as it is too thin to be a carpet beetle larva, and it is the wrong color to be a flea larva. Regardless, the methods one uses to rid one’s bed (and home) of these creatures are virtually the same, and our reader can apply the same methods in this context if she thinks there is an infestation occurring in and/or around her bed.

First, she must launder all of her sheets, and any other textiles in or around her bed where worms could be roaming. Second, she should vacuum her room several times over the course of two weeks (minimum). Thirdly, she should apply preventative measures to ensure that no more worms are found on her bed. These include, but are not limited to, consistent housekeeping (especially vacuuming), ensuring that her window screens are in tact, sealing cracks in walling and flooring where possible, keeping bird nests out of the attic (in the case that this applies), and storing unused garments in vacuum-sealed bags or cold vaults.

If she finds that the infestation is spreading to the rest of her home, or that it still persists in her bedroom (or if she simply wants to be safe, rather than sorry), then we recommend that she repeat steps one and two in the rest of her home.

To conclude, we are not sure what the worms our reader found are. If she wants us to try again to identify the worms, she is welcome to send more pictures, but if not, then we hope that the general advice we gave suffices. We wish her the very best!

Summary

Article Name

How to Handle Finding Bugs in Your Bed

Description

"What are these?" asks this reader in the submission she sent us. "They are in my bed as well", she continues, referring to the tiny, brownish creatures photographed below.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton