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Posted in Garden Worms Worms Facts Worms Found in the House

Translucent Worm with Black Head in Terrarium are Fungus Gnat Larvae

“I’ve found this transparent worm in my terrarium after two months of setting it up”, writes Thomas about the near-transparent, worm-like creature pictured below. “It’s a closed terrarium and I sometimes open the lid for ventilation because of fog buildup. I’m living in Hong Kong and at the time of discovering this worm, it was winter, with temperatures around 12°C to 20°C. The worm appears to have a black head and is not moving at all. It measures around 1 to 1.5cm in length. Is this worm harmful to my plants? Why does it suddenly appear in my terrarium? The plants I used are all free from pests as they come from nurseries. Thank you.”

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Posted in Composting Worms Worms Facts Worms Generally

Giant Worm with Eyes All Over Body is actually a Fungus Gnat Larvae Train

“?Can you please identify this strange-looking worm?” asks Bryan about the odd-looking creature pictured below. “It’s approximately six-inches long, and if you zoom in it looks like it has eyes all over its body, very strange! I took this video in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina.” Well, Bryan might be surprised to know that those are indeed eyes all over the “body”, though it isn’t just one body, but many. This isn’t just one worm, it’s a moving pile of them, kind of. They’re not technically worms, but larvae: specifically, fungus gnat larvae.

swarm of tiny white worms
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Posted in Pest Worms

Swarm of Tiny White Worms with Black Heads on Ceiling

Recently we received yet another question about tiny white worms with black heads. This time, the small worms (or more likely larvae) were in a swarm on the ceiling. There are probably at least a hundred worms or larvae in the picture we were sent, and they are all in a small area of the ceiling, tightly packed together. The reader indicated that we had tentatively identified similar creatures in the past as moth fly larvae, and was wondering if the small white worms (or larvae) with black heads that he found are moth fly larvae.

Horsehair Worm in Forest
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Posted in Gross Worms

Short White Maggots Inside Crickets

We received an interesting question from a reader the other day via the All About Worms Facebook page about “some sort of short white maggot” crawling out of the abdomen of a cricket. The reader feeds the crickets to his chameleon, and recently gnats have been found in the “chameleon’s habitat.” The reader speculated there might be a connection between the gnats and the short white maggots – indeed, he thought the maggots might be the gnats themselves – and asked us to weigh in on the matter. What type of short white maggot could be inside a cricket?