“I’m a wildlife carer and currently have two baby noisy miners. Today I found the photographed larvae (?) in their nest”, writes Lee in her submission regarding the translucent creature with dark entrails pictured below. “Was hoping to find out what it is.” For context for our other readers, a noisy miner is a type of bird endemic to Australia. It is very pretty, with grey, white, and yellow markings, and is named after its noisy nature. From the photo alone, we are not sure what these creatures are that Lee found, though we do agree that they are probably larvae of some kind, given their shape and general physical appearance.

“What is the specific type of this worm?” writes Imina in her submission regarding the segmented, cream-colored worm pictured below. “It is from my ceiling and drops onto my pillow every night.” To begin with, we have to commend Imina on the excellent photo she took, and thank her for taking a photo next to a rule, which is the best way for us to understand its size. This creature does not even reach one centimeter (approximately 0.4-inches) in length. It has a bulbous brown head and a similarly-colored prong on its rear. Based on its physical characteristics, we have concluded that this is a beetle larva.

“Can you identify the worm or larvae in the pictures I attached?” asks Nicholas in his submission regarding the white creature with a brown head pictured below. “These were found in my home in Plantation Florida. So far, they have been found mainly on the floor, within approximately a 15-foot diameter area. There were several found inside a ceiling mounted light, they are in the picture displaying several individuals. There is no apparent point from which they have emerged. They have not come from, or gotten to, any of our food supplies yet. It is a cool area, near our a/c unit, a bathroom (where the aforementioned ceiling light is), and a bedroom, with a small hall area connecting the areas. From this area, a few have made it toward our kitchen and dining room, but they have hopefully mostly all been caught. We have lived in this home for six years and this is the first time seeing these. I am aware they “look like” black fly maggots, but I have seen maggots many times, these appear different. Six legs I believe, no easily visible hairs. Any information you may provide would be greatly appreciated.”

“Saw this on my walk with my two doggies in the woods in Hevingham, Norfolk today, and am wondering what kind of creepy crawlie it is”, writes this reader regarding the segmented, dark green creature pictured below. “When I attempted a closer look it appeared to play dead!” Firstly, this is an excellent photo! The lighting is brilliant, and the details are crisp and clear, which makes it all that much easier for us to try and identify the critter. Secondly, we have to acknowledge what a strange-looking creature this is. The segmented body is very caterpillar-like, but the bulbous, bordering-on-giant, head is really odd.

“I found several of these in my Tucson, AZ compost pile and in my raised bed garden”, writes Dave about the white, worm-like creature pictured below. “Stretched out, it’s a plump two-inches long. It has translucent, grey-white skin (curiously dirt doesn’t stick to the skin) and a dark inner mass at the tail end. It looks similar to the wood boring beetle larvae posted earlier. My question is, should I worry about this critter eating my plants or destroying their roots. Thanks for maintaining your site.” Well, firstly, we want to thank David for submitting to our site! It is because we get submissions like these that we are able to keep it running. Secondly, we want to thank him for the absolutely excellent photo he sent in.

“Found this on a bed sheet”, writes this reader in his submission regarding the segmented, black, bug-like critter pictured below. “Pic is of back and front. At first I thought it was a leaf. Do you know what it is? Thank you!” Well, we can say that this is definitely not a leaf. We think it is an insect larva of some kind, either a beetle or fly larva. At first glance, given the shape, color and segmentation, we thought it was probably a black soldier fly larva (also known as BSFL). Black soldier fly larvae are an underappreciated, yet quite famous, bug. They are composting larvae that efficiently break down organic materials, producing little waste, and from whom organic plastic can be produced.

“I found thin, white-colored worms in my garden”, writes Bree in her submission. “They were about an inch long, hanging upside down from my planter boxes and wiggling around. They did not appear to be hanging by any thread and it had rained a lot today if that helps.” Now, we have to say that we cannot actually see the worms Bree is talking about in the photos. We do not know if she means the thin, white, long objects littered across the soil in the photo, though those look like twigs, but since they were meant to only be an inch long, we assume she doesn’t mean these.

“Can you help me identify this worm or larvae?” asks Amanda in her submission regarding the little, pink, worm-like organism pictured below. “It was in my cat’s food bowl. It was the only worm we found.” Now, given the worm’s physical features, we would instinctively identify this as a beetle larva. The pronged rear, elongated body, and bulbous head point to this conclusion, though the lack of prolegs has us thinking it could be a different species of insect larva. That said, the location of its discovery has us weary about saying anything too certain. When worms are found in or near pet food, readers are often concerned about parasites. Amanda does not say anything of that nature, but given the chance that the creature did come from the cat, we have to exercise caution.

“Please help me identify these”, writes Erin about the white, worm-like critters pictured below. “I was doing my weekly sweep and hand mop and found a bunch of these in the dining room by the window. I don’t see any place of entry and I do not know what they are. They have fat little bodies and a reddish brown face. They were all around my table on the floor, over a dozen.” Firstly, we just want to express our empathy with Erin: it really is an unpleasant surprise when you find creatures in your home that were not invited. Secondly, we want to thank her for the great photo she sent in. It really helps us narrow down the possible identifications.

“Attached is a picture of the small tan insects that have a worm-like body, six legs and a black head”, states this reader in his submission regarding the organism pictured below. “They were floating in the toilet this morning and there is an exhaust fan directly above the toilet and may be the source of where they came from. Thanks.” Based on the photo, we think these are beetle larvae of some kind, as they typically have legs even at the larval stage. That said, we do not know exactly which species they belong to, but, in any case, beetle larvae are not harmful to humans or pets, so our reader need not worry about that.

“I’m attaching a photo of an orange type of worm”, begins this reader in her submission about the six-legged creature pictured below. “I found one at the end of my bed sheets, one in between the slats of my window blind in the bathroom and three of them at different times in the kitchen. Two of the ones in the kitchen (only one found at a time) had crawled into my Brita water filter at the top near where the charcoal filter is. I had it sitting on the counter when I left the lid off. The other one was just crawling on a tea canister. These were all seen in a span of two-three weeks. They seem to be less than a half inch long. What are they? Thanks in advance for your help.”

“I have been living with extreme dust in a newly constructed complex”, writes this reader in her submission to us. She includes a plethora of images, three of which we have selected and included below. They seem to show pieces of matter and potential organisms of all shapes and sizes, ranging from white, translucent larvae-like organisms to a dark-colored beetle of some sort. “Last year they said I had carpet beetles, then case bearing moths, but things just keep getting worse and they are insisting that I have no pests and are imagining everything. I have spent so much money and time on this. My apartment is spotless and clean.”

“What is this worm?” asks this reader about the segmented, black worm-like creature pictured below. “I can’t seem to find it on Google or anywhere. In another article, you described it as an intermediate hooded owlet moth caterpillar, but after examining the images it’s the same thing I found, and in person you can tell it’s not really a caterpillar.”

“What type of worm/larva is this?” is all this reader asks in her submission. She refers to the pink worm-like creature pictured below, which possesses a darker, brown-colored head, and a similarly colored, forked rear.

“Since we moved in, I’ve been seeing these bugs on walls that look like red worms with a black head”, states this reader in her submission. “Please help me identify the bug if you can, it would mean a lot. We just recently moved into a new house that we completely renovated before that, down to the brick and complete installations.”

“Is this an inch worm or a bookworm (if that exists)?” asks this reader in his submission concerning the tiny, white worm-like creature pictured below. “It had legs (maybe 4-6) and as shown in the picture I found it in my book.”

“I found one of these crawling on my bathroom floor” states this reader about the glossy, white creature in the photograph below. Our reader’s husband reported that two more of these segmented critters fell from the ceiling and onto his chair.

“Thank you so much for posting your pictures on the palm worm,” states this reader who found such a worm in her bathroom and kitchen table. After initially sending us a query about this worm and being worried about its presence in her home, she now reports no longer being concerned about it.

“I found this at the bottom of my clothes hamper,” says this reader about the brown and white-striped organism pictured below. Although our reader does not pose any questions in her submission, we assume that she wants to know what this is and how to handle it.

“This critter was found on the top edge of a shower tile, where it meets the drywall” states this reader about the pink, segmented creature below. Our reader asks if this is a centipede larva, and we will do our best to answer him.