A reader wrote to us a few days ago about some small black worms she found at the bottom of her kids’ laundry basket. She also found a couple more worms when transferring their clothes from the washing machine to the drier, so the worms can evidently be traced back to the clothing of her children. The reader was wondering what these black worms in the laundry basket are, and we think they might be leeches (which are actually worms) or potentially slugs (which aren’t worms).

A while ago a reader wrote to us about some brown and black worms she is finding all over her apartment, including on her tile floor and the rug in her bedroom, as well as on the walls of her house. When they die, the worms “curl into a circle.” The reader refers to the worms in quotes, indicating that she is using the term loosely, and we think she is right in doing this, as it seems she is finding millipedes. However, the reader anticipated this suggestion, and said that she thinks the creatures she is finding are too skinny to be millipedes. So, below we explore our reader’s situation in more depth, trying to decipher if she found millipedes or something else.

A reader wrote to us recently about some small black worms that he is finding on the carpet under his desk. The black worms are only about an eighth of an inch long and they move quickly. In general, the reader isn’t especially concerned about the small black worms, as he doesn’t “mind them in particular if they were under the bed or something.” However, their presence under his desk is a problem because he is normally barefoot, and he is (understandably) “grossed out by the idea of them being there.” The reader is wondering what the small black worms under his desk are, and he is also wondering if they are dangerous and how he can get rid of them.

A reader from Texas recently wrote to us about some small black worms he is finding in his recreational vehicle (“RV”), and sent us a picture of one that is on his floor. On some days, he finds as many as six or seven of the black worms (which can also be “charcoal grey” worms) in his RV, but he has also gone up to a week without finding any worms. After struggling to discern where the worms are coming from, he finally concluded that they are entering the RV through the heat vents. The reader lives in his RV, and so was naturally wondering what he is finding, and he also wanted to know how to get rid of the black worms that have taken up residence in his RV.

We received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page a few days ago about “a tiny black skinny worm in my salt water pool,” to use the reader’s exact wording. The reader lives in Florida, and also reports that the worms are unsegmented and appear to have “diamond shaped scales,” but she concedes it is hard to tell if this is an accurate description of the worm’s exterior. The reader was having trouble figuring out what she found, so she asked us to identify the tiny, skinny, black worm that she found in her pool.

A few days ago we received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page about some black worms (or blackish, brownish worms) that have infested the reader’s neighbor’s roof. The reader reports that there are “millions” of black worms around the neighbor’s roof and his house, so we aren’t using the word “infestation” lightly. (We are not being so careful with our use of the word “worm,” however, as the reader’s black worm infestation is probably a black larvae infestation, but we’ll address this in a moment.) The reader’s message is fairly long and quite detailed, but at bottom he wants to know what creature is causing the infestation, and he also wants to know how to get rid of the problem. What black “worms” are behind the infestation, and what can be done to eliminate the infestation?

A reader wrote to us recently about the “tiny black worms” that are eating the strawberries in her garden. The reader wants to know what the small black worms on her strawberries are, and so also wants to get rid of them. We’ll address each question in turn, first offering some suggestions about what the strawberry worms might be, and then listing a couple of different ways our reader might get rid of the worms.

We received a question via the All About Worms Facebook page about a mysterious black worm in what appears to be some sort of ice. The black worm is largely covered by the ice (or whatever it is), but its midsection appears to be above the surface. The reader was herself sent the photo of the worm, but she couldn’t identify it, so she passed it along to us. She said it looks like its “something from aliens,” and indeed it kind of does. What is this mysterious black worm covered in ice (or some substance that resembles ice)?

A reader wrote to us a week or so ago about some 1/4-inch (quarter-inch) black worms she is finding in the carpet of her house. In addition to being in her carpet, the small black worms are also on the baseboards around her house, which isn’t surprising, given that baseboards often line carpet. The reader says the black worms in her carpet shy away from vacuum cleaners, and also that they seem to prefer darkness over light. What are these small black worms in the carpet of our reader’s home, and how can she prevent these worms from infesting her carpet?

Recently we received a highly detailed question from a reader about the 1/4 black worms she is finding in her apartment. The small, black worms are generally found on the carpet, although the reader is also finding them on the baseboards of her home. The reader is wondering what the quarter-inch worms are so she can look into how to get rid of them. She also wants to know if the worms are harmful. If we correctly identify the small, black worms, we might be able to answer all of our reader’s concerns in one sitting, as it were.

With large font and an enormous amount of consecutive question marks, a reader wrote to us to ask about a black worm in her bathroom. The worm is about seven centimeters (slightly less than three inches) in length, which is relatively long for a bathroom pest. (Larvae, the most common creature to find in a bathroom in our experience, are generally several times shorter.) The reader says the worm has no “texture” on its body, by which she means it has smooth skin, and the worm evidently has a titanic tolerance for Raid and other insecticides, as it didn’t die after being continually sprayed for 10 to 15 minutes. The reader is wondering, one, what the long black worm is (if it even is a worm) and, two, where it came from.

A reader wrote to us recently about the small, black worms she is finding in and around her garage door at night. She claims to be finding “hundreds” of worms, so she is clearly having some trouble with these creatures. In addition to the adjectives small and black, the reader describes the worms as “round,” by which we think she means their bodies are cylindrical, or perhaps the creatures are curled up. If the entire bodies of the worms are round, one probably wouldn’t suspect them to be worms. As a matter of fact, though, our reader probably isn’t finding worms; rather, she seems to be finding millipedes, a common household pest. So, the small, black “worms” our reader is finding are in fact small, black millipedes, or so we posit.

A concerned reader wrote to us recently about a long, black worm he found in his house. He is worried that his dog has “a terrible worm of some kind.” We are of course highly sensitive to his concerns, but the reader makes no explicit connection between his dog and the long, black worm he found. He merely mentions that he came home (and presumably found the worm) and is worried about his dog. He didn’t mention any behavior of the dog that implies it has a worm infection, nor did he say he saw the worm come from the dog’s body. We are therefore slightly puzzled why he immediately linked the worm he found to his dog. In any case, he only asked us to identify the long, black worm, so hopefully in helping with this we can provide some guidance.

A reader asked us a little while ago about some small black worms he is finding on his property. The reader has an air conditioner that drips water onto his carport, which has a crack in it, and small black worms are crawling out of this crack to get to the water. The reader describes the worms as “solid black,” so evidently they don’t have stripes or any other distinguishing body marking. What are these small black worms in the water on the carport?

A little while back, we received a very detailed email from a reader about a worm, or what is believed to be a worm, that he encountered. The reader described his situation in some detail: he was sitting on his porch, which is enclosed by screens, when he felt as if he was being bitten on his arm. In response, he examined his arm and found what appeared to be a very small thread. However, the “thread” moved, becoming longer and then contracting again. Because of this movement, the reader concluded that he had come across an extremely small worm. Later, the reader found a few additional tiny worms on his arms and legs.