We received a question today from a reader who found some sort of worm-like bug in his car. The car had recently been used by someone whose house is infested with bed bugs, so at first the reader thought his car had bed bugs, but after doing some research, he concluded this likely isn’t the case. We think he is correct because there is a good chance he is actually finding carpet beetle larvae. We’ve written about carpet beetle larvae more times than we care to remember, but we’ve never heard of them showing up in a car before. So, we have new twist on an old theme – carpet beetle larvae were found, but in a car. What’s the deal with that?

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 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 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 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.