A couple of days ago we received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page from a reader who recently moved into an apartment in Valencia, Spain. Unfortunately, his girlfriend has been waking up with bite marks that look like they might be the work of bed bugs. However, both the reader and an expert could find no trace of bed bugs in the apartment. This led our reader to speculate that he might have found carpet beetle larvae, as these larvae have small hairs that can cause skin irritation that look like bed bug bites, just as the reader noted. He sent us a few videos and asked us to comment on the matter.

We recently received a question via the All About Worms Facebook page about some “tiny” insects in a reader’s upstairs bathroom. The size of the insects is emphasized, and the reader reports that they can hardly be seen by the naked eye. As a point of reference, she says that they are smaller than a sesame seed, which certainly makes them very small, even in the insect world. The reader also reports that the insects are striped, and that they have a couple of hairs that visibly extend from their back ends, which stand in contrast to the little hairs that cover their bodies. The reader wants to know what she is finding, and she also wants to know why they are in her bathroom.

A few days ago we received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page about a “brown worm” on a reader’s mattress. She also found dead worm bodies on the carpet and on a spare mattress in her bedroom. On the basis of articles we have published, she suspects she found carpet beetle larvae, and we think she is correct. Thus, she isn’t finding worms or dead worm bodies, but larvae and dead larva bodies. The reader’s problem is relatively widespread, as the carpet beetle larvae can be found throughout her entire apartment – on the mattress, carpet, and walls. The reader has already started implementing some of the elimination strategies we have written about before, but asked for further advice.

A reader wrote to us a little while ago about a small brown worm that she found in her house. She said she “could find this worm under my bed sheets and floor,” and we aren’t sure is we should take this as an expression of the mere possibility that the worm could be found on the bed sheets and floor, as her use of the subjunctive mood seems to suggest, or if the reader did in fact find the worm under her bed sheets and then on the floor. In any case, she sent a picture of the “worm” in question, which actually looks like a larva, not a worm. More specifically, she appears to have found a carpet beetle larva, which the gods have fated us to write about without end. Below we explain why we think our reader found a carpet beetle larva.

A reader wrote us a fairly frantic message via the All About Worms Facebook page recently about what appears to be carpet beetle larvae, easily the most common creature we write about. The reader was “begging” (her word) us for help, and stressed her discomfort with three exclamation points. The carpet beetle larvae, if this is in fact what they are, are on a sock, and there appear to be at least seven or eight of them, so we can understand the reader’s concern. The reader only asked about identification, which we’ve technically already covered, but we’ll explore our suggestion in greater depth below.

A few days ago a reader sent us three pictures of what appears to be a carpet beetle larva (or probably carpet beetle larvae – the three images don’t appear to show the same exact creature). The reader only asked us for an identification, so we have basically already answered that question, but below we’ll discuss our thinking, as well as share the photos of the carpet beetle larvae our reader submitted. They are quite clear, and show the creature from a few different angles.

A reader asked us about some worms or larvae that he found on the walls of his house recently. Over the past two months, he has found three worms/larvae, so he doesn’t seem to be dealing with any sort of infestation, but the issue persists. The reader sent in two pictures and asked us if we are able to identify what he found. We are fairly certain he is finding carpet beetle larvae, which are of course larvae, not worms, and below we explain why we think this is the case.

A reader bought a used couch recently and found some tiny brown worms or larvae in it. More precisely, she found the worms or larvae in the lining of the couch, so they had evidently made their way fairly far into the piece of furniture. The reader at first thought she might have found bed bugs, but ruled this out because whatever she found doesn’t have an oval-shaped body like a bed bug. Rather, the creatures she found have more elongated bodies, albeit ones that are very short. She estimates that they are only a few millimeters long. Other relevant body features include darkened heads and some hairs, or “hair-looking things,” that stick out of the end of the creatures’ bodies. What type of worm or larvae did our reader find in her couch?

A reader wrote to us a couple of days ago about some brown worms that she vacuumed off of her carpet. (Actually, it isn’t clear if the brown worms were on the carpet, but the picture she sent us shows the vacuum on carpet, and that’s why we make this assumption, which may be is relevant.) Unfortunately, we weren’t given any information about creature, but, as mentioned, we were sent a photo, and this photo may depict a wireworm (sometimes spelled as “wire worm”). However, she might have also found a carpet beetle larvae, so we detail both possibilities below.

A reader wrote to us a few days ago to ask about some larvae and beetles she found, sending us some excellent pictures of the creatures in question. She suspects she found carpet beetle larvae, an idea she wanted us to weigh in on, and she also found some sort of beetle that she wasn’t able to identify, which she also wanted our help with. In addition to the matter of identification, the reader wanted to know how to get rid of the carpet beetle larvae – or whatever they may be – that she is finding.

A reader wrote to us via the All About Worms Facebook page to ask us about some small red worms that she recently found on her bedroom wall. The worms appear to have a cocoon or shell, or perhaps they just shed their skin (the reader mentioned all three as possibilities). The worms also seem to be legless and hairless. The reader reports that she has seen the small red worms before when she was younger; they were generally under stuffed animals that were on the floor, and again she noted that they seemed to leave behind their molted skin. In light of their repeated appearance in her life, our reader wants to know what the small red worms are, if they are even worms at all.

We recently received a question from a reader who found three worms in a stack of towels in her closet. She reports that the closet is almost never opened – it is “only used to take a big stack of towels out or to put them back” – so she is first of all wondering how the worms got in her closet. However, her more pressing question has to do with getting rid of the worms in her closet. She has so far found three worms nestled between the strands of the towels, clinging to the threads, but hasn’t exhaustively searched the closet because she is scared as to what she might find, leading her to believe that there could be more worms tucked away. She wants to get rid of the worms in the closet “completely,” and that’s where we come in.

A reader wrote to us recently about some worms she is finding in “dark places” around her house. More specifically, she is finding the worms “in lounge, under sofa, behind sofa,” so evidently the worms have taken to hiding around or under furniture. The worms, which are about an inch long, are a cream color with brown tips, although some appear to be mostly brown, which makes them difficult to see because they are the same color as her carpet, and they are always on her carpet. The reader wants two questions answered: what are the cream and brown one-inch worms she is finding, and how can she get rid of them?

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?

A reader wrote to us a little while back about some small worms she is finding in her cat’s food. The reader emphasizes that the worms are not in the food prior to giving it to her cat, which is good, but after the food has been out for a day or so, she often finds worms in it. The reader also finds small dark worms under the mat on which the cat food is placed, which is why we are writing about “small dark worms in and around cat food.” This rather specific title may imply we have a definite answer in mind, but unfortunately we do not. We do, however, have a few possibilities to suggest.

On a recent morning, a reader found three white worms in different parts of her house. The white worms, which are actually not entirely white worms because they have some brown coloration on them, is about three quarters of an inch (or 20 millimeters) long. The worm is also “fat,” according to the reader, and has a big, round head. Finally, the worm’s body appears to be segmented and it has what look like “small pinchers” on its posterior end. So, the reader is dealing with a fat, white worm (plus some brown coloration) with a big head, a segmented body, and small pinchers, and her find has left her “so creeped out.” What might this fat, white worm be? Is it even a worm, or might it be a larva (or rather, larvae, since our reader found three)?

“What the heck are these things?!!??!” So starts the frantic query, which was accompanied by a few pictures of a brown worm-like creature, we received a few days ago from a reader. The reader has been finding tiny, brown creatures all over her house – she found them on the wood (like a wall or cabinet perhaps?), on her clothes, and even in her bed. The reader is “freaking out,” as people who find mysterious tiny, brown creatures all over their house can sometimes do. The reader is especially concerned because she suspects these tiny, brown worms (or tiny, brown larvae, most likely) may have been around for a while, but that she failed to notice them because they were so small. She is also moving, and she doesn’t want to take the creatures with her. What is the tiny, brown creature our reader found? Is it some sort of worm, or a larva, or something else entirely?

A reader recently wrote to us about two small worms she found in her bed. (The reader called them “worms,” even though they might be some other creature, like larvae.) She was understandably a little concerned and disgusted, as people who find worms in their bed tend to be. The reader was most concerned about the possibility that these worms (or larvae or some other creature) came out of her body during the night, and she didn’t directly ask what kind of worms she found in her bed. However, the two matters are of course related, for if we identify the worm, we might be able to tell if it came out of her body. (We don’t think so.)

Last month, we received a picture of a small brown worm (or small brown creature that looks a bit like a worm). The reader wanted to know what the small worm in the picture was. Another day, another question about small brown worms. Unfortunately, the picture of the creature in question isn’t particularly clear…at all. It appears to feature a curled up brown worm (although it could very well be some sort of caterpillar or larva), but that is about all we can tell. The picture isn’t accompanied by any additional information, such as where the worm (or caterpillar or larva) was found, which is very helpful to know when it comes to identifying worms or other worm-like creatures. Unfortunately, we can only offer a few guesses as to what this creature might be.

We received a picture recently from a reader of what appears to be small brown worms (or perhaps larvae). It was accompanied by a very simple question: “Can you tell what these are?” Unfortunately, the picture isn’t particularly clear, and we know no other information about the worm – if it even is a worm – in question (like where the “worm” was found, if it had any distinguishing characteristics, and so on). For this reason, we can only offer a couple of guesses based on what we do know, which, alas, is not much.