A few days ago we received a question from a reader who found what appears to be some kind of small, skinny, brown worm on his floor, or what looks like his floor. The reader didn’t give us much (or really any) information about the worm, but he did send a picture. The reader is wondering what the little brown worm is, and he is also wondering how he can get rid of “them” (implying that the pictured worm isn’t the only one he found).
First, here is the picture:
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As helpful as a picture is, it would be nice to know a little more about this creature. For one, we have no idea where our reader lives, so we don’t have any geographical clues, and we also don’t know if the creature has any distinguishing characteristics. One thing we are especially keen to know is if the small curved line on what appears to be the worm’s head is actually a part of its body. It doesn’t really look like it, and instead looks like a small piece of hair, perhaps from a beard. (There are actually other pieces of hair in the photo, which is why we were able to surmise that the worm is “small” and “skinny,” even though these words essentially have no meaning except in relative terms.) However, if it is part of the worm, our reader may have found a particularly strange-looking hammerhead worm. Hammerhead worms have large, flattened heads that look like, well, hammerheads. Their heads tend to be much thicker than the thin, hair-like head (if it is a head) of the worm above, but we suppose it is possible that this is a hammerhead worm. It is unlike any we have ever seen, but obviously we haven’t seen every species.
If the worm’s “head” is actually just a piece of hair, then obviously this suggestion can be discarded. What else might he have found? Unfortunately, we really can’t say in this instance, although we are reasonably confident it is in fact a worm, as opposed to, say, a larva, which are commonly called “worms,” and which we actually write about more often than not. In other words, our reader probably found a worm as we define the word “worm.” In fact, it almost looks like he found the most classic worm of all, an earthworm, of which there are thousands of species. (“Earthworm” is a fairly generic word that is used to refer to any of the larger species of the Oligochaeta subclass.) The largest earthworms, or megadriles, tend to have a distinct and noticeable clitellum, the band around the middle of earthworms, and the above creature doesn’t, but since this earthworm appears to be quite small (i.e., it is a microdrile), this isn’t surprising. So, it is possible our reader found an earthworm, but again we can’t be at all certain of this.
Since the picture is ambiguous, unfortunately it is unclear what our reader found, and since we also don’t know where he found it, it is obviously difficult to say much about the removal process. We only have a small picture of a single worm to work from, and this doesn’t tell us anything about the reader’s larger situation.
However, we can still give our reader some advice! In general, it is good to keep areas of the house clean and dry, as this will discourage any creatures from taking up residence in one’s home. Getting rid of a household pest is generally a function of removing the conditions that drew the pest in in the first place. Second, any obvious routes into the house should be sealed off to the extent that this possible. Worms and other bugs will make their way into your house essentially no matter what, but you can keep the numbers low if you don’t invite them in through open, screen-less windows, or by keeping doors to the outside world ajar. Again, though, this is really generic advice, and we realize it may not be especially applicable to our reader’s situation.
Hopefully there aren’t many worms in our reader’s house, and if this is the case, he probably doesn’t have anything to worry about anyway. Maybe some earthworms crawled onto a moist bathroom floor through an open window to escape the sun, to give one of hundreds of possible scenarios. In any event, we wish him luck, and if he sends us any more specific information, we will take another stab at his question.
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My cat found one lastnight that sounds like this. We live in Texas and have never seen anything like it. It kinda wriggled like a snake but obviously wasn’t nor was it a centipede or worm. It did appear to have 2 small hairs coming out one end. Really want to know what it is.
Just found one on bathroom floor. Bathroom has no windows. I am dog sitting and we just came in but I was in BR first befire dog followed. Didn’t appear to have legs but I was too skeeved out to study it. Picked it up quick with paper and put in the toilet. I live in upstate NY. I don’t want to see anymore of these in my house.
Found one yesterday – they are a form of millipede.
What is it. My cats saw it went near the wood edging. I couldn’t get it I sprayed a bug spray.
Yesterday, I found a similar looking worm on my floor, and it had antennae at the end of its body (similar to what you see as hair in the picture, but the antennae were straight up and down not curved. i do have a dog and he was nearby, but i called the vet and described the worm and they said it would not have come from the dog’s intestine. i just wondered if he picked it up outside in his fur. i have never seen a worm quite like this one.
i LIVE IN A SUBURB OUTSIDE OF ST. LOUIS, MO. I FOUND A SIMILAR WORM CRAWLING ON MY FLOOR. WHAT LOOKS LIKE HAIR ON THE END OF THE WORM LOOKED LIKE ANTENNAE ON THE HEAD OF THE ONE I SAW.
WHAT IS IT!!! I has something very similar to this last night on my kitchen floor while cleaning up from dinner. It was no where in site while I was cooking. I thought it was a piece of thin, dry, dead blade of grass until I when to pick it up and it started to move. Needless to say I couldn’t sleep well, thinking there could be more and I barely saw that one. What if it got on my dog’s foot and she brought it into my bedroom.. Grossed out from Plano Texas
We found a very similar worm in our toilet today and are freaked out! Did it fall off of our bathing suits or did it come from the inside of our body! Any information would be greatly appreciated!
I found one in my toilet also. I panicked, then realized it probably fell off my clothing. That form of worm is not the type to be found in the intestines. And it does have two little feelers. It is apparently a type of millipede – close inspection shows the tiny legs.
I found this today on the bathroom floor at my apartment in Dallas Texas. I live on the bottom floor. I have lived here for five years and have never saw this before. At first I thought it might be a sliverfish larvae, but after researching I found out that it is not. It wiggled on the floor at a kinda fast pace for it’s size. I didn’t notice any legs. It was about 2-3 inches long, very thin, a beige or white color.. I mashed it with a napkin just before it could wiggle to the cabinet. It broke into two pieces and continued to move. I then flushed it down the toilet.
I just had the whole bedroom done up with 2 big bombs, of Repeliant.
so strong I had too sleep on the living room sofa! I found the same thing
only on my bed covers, pick it up with the blanket and flush it down the toilet!
Boy, I thought now I know what was biting all night! I Live in La Pine,Oregon
In the woods! Very hot and very cold in the winter! But beautiful and a cheap place to live.
I thought looks like a very tiny worm! Date: July 4th,2020.
My cat just found one on the floor in my house. Never seen one, but same exact thing as pictured. Teeny tiny legs I think (I was too freaked out to look too hard) and antennae. I live in Missouri so It looks like these little dudes really get around!
@GROSSED OUT- I just found exactly what you described crawling across the living room wood flooring!! I cannot identify it either…I’ve never seen anything like it, except a full blown millipede, but that’s NOT what this is…or if it IS, it’s a species I’ve never seen? Or a baby? Teenager? IDK. I need to know if it is a parasite.
I live in the Northern foothills of California 45 minutes from So. Lake Taho, and 45 min from Sacramento.
Found one tonight inside my house in Indonesia. I thought at first it was a long skinny normal earthworm. After I closer inspection I see legs (hair thin) and two antennae. Every time I spray it with mosquito (insect) killer it wriggled and leave a shining green bright for a moment on it’s traces.
Fascinating! It’s the second thing in animal kingdom that can produce light that I saw directly with my own eyes after a firefly.
How to get rid of tiny dark worms or millipedes in bathroom
Found one today, I live in Florida. It was actually in my tub. Really freaked me out. Has anyone found out the name of them yet
Has anyone found an answer to what these small beasts might be? We have now found 2 of these tiny worms on the bathroom floor, A couple of weeks apart. They move their head fairly quickly as the wriggle, I don’t think they move anywhere, they just wiggle into loops etc. I would be extremely grateful if someone can tell me what this is so that I don’t have to worry about the possibility that they are coming out of my dog or husbands butt!! Ha ha!!! Thank you!!
I also found one like it today. It was crawling on my kitchen tile floor. Only 1 though. I also took a picture of it while it was alive and one after ive killed it with a fly swatter. We have a 3 month old puppy that goes outside only for bathroom. So what can it be? Parasite or larvae or worm? Should I be worry. -Sheng from Texas
Found 1 today in South Jersey! Im so grossed out & have no idea what it is!
Found in Western Maine and is not an earthworm . Usually curved a bit, and look dead, but are alive.
Spotted a similar looking one on a floor after a wheelchair had been in same spot. This was in North Carlolina RTP area. It was thread-like skinny and very small (less than 2″). I needed to bend over to see its details. It had many legs and those two floppy looking antennae. Someone tried to step on it and it just curled itself up. Someone mistakenly said it was a millipede. Much too small and skinny to be a millipede but had similar leg-like structures. I ignorantly said it was a parasite. I’ve never seen a worm or a centipede/Millipede that small and thin, with two floppy antennae on the end with which it that was moving forward.
I found a very similar worm in my house today. I live in the North Dallas area of Texas, in a heavily populated area. We have one cat, no other animals. The hairs on what is presumed to be the head on the worm I found were in line with the body and the ends were curled like hooks.
I found a very similar worm in my house today. I live in the North Dallas area of Texas, in a heavily populated area. We have one cat, no other animals. The hairs on what is presumed to be the head on the worm I found were in line with the body and the ends were curled like hooks.