“I live in Brooklyn, NY and I just finished renovating my basement”, starts Yitzchok in his submission regarding the pink, worm-like creature with legs pictured below. “I put in new ceramic flooring and freshly painted, etc. But now, only a week after post construction, I keep on finding these small yellowish worms crawling on my new floors. There is no food being stored in my basement. The only thing I have other than the toilet and bedrooms is a boiler room with some extra paint stored in it. Please if you can help me find out where it’s coming from and how to get rid of it. Thanks.”

Based on the photo Yitzchok sent in, we would presume this is some species of beetle larva, maybe the scarlet malachite beetle larva. These little critters are predators, which makes them sound far more dangerous than they are. Given their minuscule bodies, they naturally only feed on creatures similar to, or smaller than, their own size. They specifically feed on other young insects, such as bees, flies, and other beetle species. So, even if Yitzchok was storing food in his basement, they would not likely be attracted by this.

So why does he keep finding these in his basement? Our best guess is that an adult beetle simply wandered into his home and laid its eggs in the basement, because it deemed it a safe place for its eggs to mature and hatch. Now, the eggs have hatched, which is why Yitzchok is suddenly finding all of these in his basement. Scarlet malachite beetle larvae have no reason to otherwise infest a home, as their diet keeps them outside where the other insects are. Of course, if Yitzchok had a bunch of other insects roaming his house, then the beetle larvae would take an interest in his home, but if that were the case, he would also notice those insects. With all of that said, it is still possible that these are not scarlet malachite beetle larvae. That was our best educated guess based on the coloration of the creature. If it is a different species of beetle larva (as we definitely think it is some type of beetle), then it is possible that it would want to infest Yitzchok’s home if its diet could be found in his home.

In conclusion, we think it’s possible that Yitzchok has been finding scarlet malachite beetle larvae in his basement, though we do not know for sure. If the photo was clearer, we would be able to make a more solid statement. In any case, we hope that we have still helped Yitzchok to some degree, and we wish him the very best!

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