“I find these on our bed sheets in the morning, do they have anything to do with parasites or worms? If so what can you tell me about them?” asks this reader in her submission to us. The organisms she is referring to appear to be green and flat, with a distinct line down their vertical middle, resembling leaves.

To begin with, we need to point out that in cases where our readers think the worms they have found might be parasites, we are not qualified to identify them. Only a medical professional would be qualified to do that, and we are merely worm enthusiasts. So, if she has reasonable cause to believe that these organisms are parasitic, or are causing her some sort of health concern, then what we can recommend is that our reader do one or more of the following:

1) Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.
2) Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.
3) Get in touch with Dr. Omar Amin at the Parasitology Center at https://www.parasitetesting.com.

With all of that said, she does not make it explicit that these organisms are causing health concerns, and she also wonders if they are even related to worms in general. In our opinion, we would say that they might be. We apologize for the vague answer, but it is also quite impossible to give any sort of real answer with little to no context. Without knowing what made our reader consider whether or not these are organisms in the first place (eg: Do they move? Do they have eyes? Has she found any other organisms in her home around the same time?), we cannot give a concrete ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

On one hand, we might propose that these really are just leaves, as that is what they look like. On the other hand, there are certain species of pupae that greatly resemble leaves, which is an evolutionary trait that certain insect species develop to hide from predators. For context, the term ‘pupa’ (‘pupae’ being the plural of ‘pupa’) refers to the stage that many insects (and all butterflies and moths) go through before they reach the final stage of their maturation. The most common life cycle of an insect is going from larva to pupa to fully-grown insect.

Pupae are not dangerous, as they are immobile in that state. For example, butterflies will make a chrysalis at this stage in their life (often referred to as a cocoon), which they will hide in, rendering them vulnerable to the outside world. So, if these are pupae, then our reader needs only move them outside. If she is worried that she is experiencing an infestation, then it might be worth searching her home for roaming larvae and/or fully-grown insects and moving them outside as well.

In conclusion, we are not sure what our reader found. If she thinks they are parasites, or harmful in some capacity, then we urge her to seek medical consultation. If not, then we think these could either be leaves, or pupae of some sort. We hope this article proves helpful to our reader and wish her the best.

Summary

Article Name

Leaf-like Organisms Found on Bed Sheets May be Insect Pupae

Description

"I find these on our bed sheets in the morning, do they have anything to do with parasites or worms? If so what can you tell me about them?" asks this reader in her submission to us. The organisms she is referring to appear to be green and flat, with a distinct line down their vertical middle, resembling leaves.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton