We believe the orange creature our reader found in his bed is a carpet beetle larvae. He should start the daily cleaning regime we laid out above ASAP to ensure he doesn’t end up dealing with an infestation.

One of our readers discovered two specimens on her bed: case bearing clothes moth larvae and carpet beetle larvae. Both of these larvae are considered to be household pests, so it is important that our reader begin cleaning to get rid of them ASAP to keep the damage to a minimum.

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.