“I have looked through your site and can’t find exactly what I’m having a problem with”, writes this reader regarding the tiny critter pictured below. “They look like worm-type things, but they are as small as a needle tip, probably one millimeter long, and they seem to appear out of nowhere. They don’t seem to move while I watch them, and one minute out of nowhere they appear on my body. I’ll include pictures for you below.” Right off the bat, we will have to point out that, because of how tiny the worm is, and how blurry the photo becomes when we try to zoom in on it, we will not be able to provide an identification that is 100% certain or accurate. We understand that, given the minuscule size of the worms, it would have been extremely difficult to photograph these creatures.

So, based on the little identifying information we can see in the photo, our best educated guess is that these are inchworms, perhaps newly-hatched ones. Of course, ‘inchworm’ is an umbrella term for a big family of North American moths, so that maybe doesn’t tell our reader that much. Inchworms are all characterized by the placement of their legs: some in the front, some in the back, but none in the middle. Because of this, they arch their back as they scoot along a surface. It might be this rather entertaining way of walking that has made the inchworm the token caterpillar.

Inchworms are, generally speaking, harmless to humans and pets, though we understand that since this is not a certain identification, our reader may still be concerned, given that the worms kept appearing on his body. Unfortunately, if we are to assume that these worms might be negatively affecting our reader’s body and health, then we are not able to identify the creatures at all, as only a medical professional would be qualified and legally able to do so. If our reader would like to take his query to a medical professional, then we recommend seeking out a medical parasitologist, as they specialize in diagnosing and treating ailments caused by organisms. To find a medical parasitologist or other health care provider who can actually help, our reader can do one or more of the following:

– Visit our parasite care resources page here: https://www.allaboutworms.com/get-medical-attention-and-tests-for-parasites

– Search for a medical parasitologist in his area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.

– Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.

In conclusion, we cannot identify this worm, unfortunately. The photo was simply not taken in a high enough resolution for us to get the necessary identifying information when zooming in on the critter. It is possibly an inchworm, but we can’t promise that. We hope this helps nonetheless, and we wish our reader the very best!

Summary

Article Name

Small Worm with Needle Tip Could be an Inchworm

Description

"I have looked through your site and can’t find exactly what I’m having a problem with", writes this reader regarding the tiny critter pictured below. "They look like worm-type things, but they are as small as a needle tip, probably one millimeter long, and they seem to appear out of nowhere. They don’t seem to move while I watch them, and one minute out of nowhere they appear on my body. I’ll include pictures for you below." Right off the bat, we will have to point out that, because of how tiny the worm is, and how blurry the photo becomes when we try to zoom in on it, we will not be able to provide an identification that is 100% certain or accurate. We understand that, given the minuscule size of the worms, it would have been extremely difficult to photograph these creatures.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton