One of our readers reached out to us about a couple of worm-like organisms she found in her toilet. She thinks the “slithering black one” is a drain fly larva, but she isn’t sure what the other specimen is. She said she has a consulted a doctor and looked everywhere, but nothing has been found wrong with her body and she is desperate for answers. Here is a picture of the first creature, the slithering black one:

We agree with our reader that this is likely a drain fly larva. Drain fly larvae are minuscule specimens that have gray, nearly translucent bodies with a dark stripe running down their backs and a tiny black breathing tube to help them breathe under water. Although we can’t see all of these features on the specimen in the photo, we are still confident that it is most likely a drain fly larva. Now, let’s take a look at the other photo our reader sent of the mysterious specimen:

Despite this specimen looking slightly different than the other creature, we think this is also a drain fly larva. We know that finding any sort of worm-like organisms in the toilet is unsettling and that it is easy to jump to conclusions that the creature might be a parasite. However, we don’t think our reader has anything to worry about, especially since she went to the doctor and they didn’t find anything wrong with her body! We believe all she needs to do is give her toilet a thorough cleaning and she won’t be finding any more of these larvae swimming about.

Since drain fly larvae breed, eat, and live in the organic material that builds up inside of a drain, to say goodbye to them our reader will just need to eliminate this grime. She should start by selecting a cleaning agent that is designed to eliminate organic material. She should clean her toilet using this cleaning gel and a pipe brush. She should scrub out the entire toilet bowl as well as the drain. If after cleaning she continues to find drain fly larvae, there might be a clog of some sort that she can use a plunger to remove. Although unsightly, drain fly larvae aren’t considered to be dangerous and aren’t known to transmit or carry any human diseases.

In conclusion, one of our readers asked us about two specimens she found in her toilet, fearing that one of them might be parasitic. We believe both organisms are drain fly larvae. To get rid of them she may want to try cleaning with either Bio Drain gel or Bio Clean powder.