“Found these little guys on the floor of my home office”, writes Elle in her submission regarding the minuscule, black, worm-like organisms pictured below. “Seemed to be all clustered together in one spot. Not able to find/see any anywhere else within the home. I suspect moth larvae after spending hours on Google, but really not sure. Any ideas please? Many thanks.” To start with, we want to commend Elle on the excellent photos she sent in. The first one below captures (in incredible detail) one of the tiny critters. It is hard to photograph creatures this small in this much detail! The second photo shows just how many of the things she found in her office. Elle is completely right in suspecting these as moth larvae, cause that is exactly what they are. To be precise, she found inchworms.

Now, saying that these are inchworms is actually not that precise, as this subgroup of moth caterpillars still includes over 1200 species. Inchworms are a group of moth caterpillars that are native to the North Americas, and are characterized by where their legs are placed on their bodies, and how they walk as a consequence. Unlike other species of caterpillars whose legs sprout all along their bodies, inchworms only have forelegs and prolegs (legs in the front and back) and none in the middle. As a result, the inchworm has to lift its forelegs in the air and extend its body to the spot it wants to go and then drag its prolegs after it, resulting in a bodily arch that we see in Elle’s photo, and which is characteristic of inchworms.

Inchworms are not harmful to humans or pets. The reason Elle found so many in her office is most likely because a pregnant moth flew into the office and laid her eggs there. Most species of inchworms feed on the various parts of plants and would have no interest in infesting a home. The moth would have laid its eggs in Elle’s home either because it flew in there and got trapped, or because it sought out a stable environment for her eggs to grow in. We recommend scooping the inchworms onto a dustpan and moving them outside, as they pose no harm to Elle and they would do much better outdoors.

In conclusion, the tiny black critters Elle found in her office are inchworms. These guys are completely harmless and are nothing to worry about. Of course, mild allergic reactions could still potentially occur, so when moving them, we recommend avoiding physical contact: wearing gloves might be a good idea. We hope this helps, and we wish Elle the very best!

Summary

Article Name

Small Black Worms Swarming Home Office are Inchworms

Description

"Found these little guys on the floor of my home office", writes Elle in her submission regarding the minuscule, black, worm-like organisms pictured below. "Seemed to be all clustered together in one spot. Not able to find/see any anywhere else within the home. I suspect moth larvae after spending hours on google, but really not sure. Any ideas please? Many thanks." To start with, we want to commend Elle on the excellent photos she sent in. The first one below captures (in incredible detail) one of the tiny critters. It is hard to photograph creatures this small in this much detail! The second photo shows just how many of the things she found in her office. Elle is completely right in suspecting these as moth larvae, cause that is exactly what they are. To be precise, she found inchworms.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton