We received a video submission from a reader of a creature crawling on a kitchen counter. The video was accompanied by the question of what these creatures are, as she found several in her home in south Florida. She describes these pests as “segmented, moving like an inchworm. At the head end they have a small tubular snout”. This description matches what we saw in the video.

Based on the video, we believe she is dealing with black soldier fly larvae, often referred to as BSFL. BSFL are often used for composting, and they are often found in composts or dumpsters because of their ability to convert high-nutrient waste into animal feed. Since our reader found this in her kitchen, perhaps their food source is her trashcan or compost.

Getting rid of black soldier fly larvae is relatively simply. Our reader should sanitize her kitchen, and get rid of any food or organic matter that is in an unprotected environment. Cleaning regularly will ensure these creatures stay away. If the food source is her compost, she might want to look into moving it outside in order to keep the larvae out of her home.

In summary, our reader found a brown, segmented bug crawling around and sent us in a video so that we could figure out what it was. After watching the video, we concluded it was a black soldier fly larva.

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