A reader wrote to us a while back about an interesting red worm that he found. He took a picture of the creature (see below), which shows a relatively small red worm in what appears to be an arid environment. The picture captures the red worm mid-movement, showing the middle of the worm’s body raised in an arc, which led the reader to suspect that he found an inchworm (commonly spelled as two separate words – “inch worm” – and also called a “measuring worm”). We have no reason to doubt this hypothesis, so below we provide some basic information about inch worms, although for reasons that we explain we aren’t sure exactly what the red inchworm our reader found is.

One of our readers sent us a picture of a worm-like creature that she found in her kitchen. She said that she found it on the lid of the trash can. She said the trash can was closed, so she assumed that it came from the kitchen counter or sink which are located relatively close to the trash can. She did mention that she has pets, so she wanted to make sure that they were safe from it. She first thought it to be a waxworm, but she said it was much longer, had stripes, and a red head. After looking at the picture, there is a possibility that it could be a couple of things.It could be a caterpillar and it could be a type of inchworm.

The inchworm, also known as “inch worm”, is the larva of the moth family Geometridae. The inch worm, although cute, is considered a garden pest.

“I found this strange-looking, dark brown worm in my toilet, just floating there,” states this reader about the organism pictured below. She thinks it was already there before she used the toilet, and she asks if we know what the creature is.

“I found this tiny, skinny little thing on my shorts after coming home from a run,” says this reader, who asks if we can identify the worm-like creature. Although it is difficult to tell from the photograph, which was taken at a distance from the worm, the creature appears to be a dark color (perhaps a black or dark brown), with a thin, elongated body.

We believe the small black worms our reader noticed hanging from her ceiling are inchworms! These larvae are harmless and can be eliminated by cleaning…there is no need for her to call an exterminator!

A man recently wrote to us wondering why he finds “silk cream white worms” in his yard and room after it rains. He did not include any other information or photographs.

A reader sent us a question the other day about a worm, or what “seems to be a worm,” that was found on her mother’s head. The reader went through quite a bit of trouble to figure out what she found, researching online and consulting her notes from a zoology class, but she couldn’t figure out what was on her mom’s head. She therefore wrote to us, hoping that we might be able to help with the matter of identification.

We received a brief and somewhat perplexing question from a reader a few days ago about brown inchworms in the kitchen. In fact, her entire email consisted of the question “what are brown inchworms in the kitchen?” – and nothing else was written. We therefore aren’t sure what our reader’s situation is, and we also aren’t really sure what information she is looking for. Brown inchworms in the kitchen are, well, brown inchworms in the kitchen, and we don’t really know what else to say about the matter. What we can do, however, is provide a little information about inchworms, so we’ll focus on this general theme below.

We received an interesting and highly detailed question from a reader recently who found a few tiny larvae in his room. The reader first noticed the larvae when they were lowering themselves onto his bed using a thread attached to the ceiling. The reader found several larvae, and traced their place of origin to a place in the ceiling, which is where the threads were attached. The reader thought he might have found moth fly larvae, but we actually think he found some sort of inchworm for reasons we will now outline.

We recently received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page about what we think might be inchworms (occasionally spelled as “inch worms”). The inchworm, if it even is an inchworm, is brown and quite small, and to get a better view of it, the reader put it under a microscope and sent us the magnified image. Below we explain what an inchworm is, and we also explain why we think our reader might have found one.

Over the last few days, we have received two questions about tiny worms that hang on threads. In a separate article, we addressed one of the thread-spinning worms, which were found outside, and now we will address the question from a reader who found the tiny worms hanging on threads in his kitchen. The reader had several questions, but they primarily concerned what the tiny worms are and how to get rid of them, and thus we will direct our primary attention toward the following question: what kind of small worms can you find hanging from silk thread in your kitchen, and how do you get rid of them?

We received a question a few days ago about small worms that spin a “thread like line from vegetation.” (The worms’ threads are probably found mainly on trees, and hence our title, but they could be on other plants as well.) The reader lives in Arizona, and only sees the thread-spinning worms at night, or at least this is when the worms are believed to be creating their threads. (The reader is ambiguous on this point.) The reader was only preoccupied with identifying the small worms, so we’ll limit ourselves to this matter, only concerned with the question “what are the small worms that spin threads and hang on trees?”

We received a video through the All About Worms Facebook page the other day of what appears to be a tiny worm on a roll of toilet paper. (The tiny worm is likely a tiny larvae, but more on that below.) The reader was quite alarmed by what he found, and mentioned (presumably, and hopefully, in jest) that he is “tempted to burn his house down” immediately because of what he found. For practical, legal, and moral reasons, we don’t recommend this course of action, and in fact we don’t think he should be concerned at all. He appears to have found a very small inchworm, the larval form of a geometer moth, for reasons we outline below.

A reader wrote to us the other day about “little worms all over [her] laundry room,” which is near a closet that holds the trash. The small, brown worms are “all over the walls, the floor, the trash/closet, washer/dryer, even hanging from the ceiling from single thread webs.” However, they are only in this one area of the house, so apparently the worms originated in this area and haven’t spread. The reader is wondering what the brown worms are, why they are in her house, and how to get rid of them.

A reader wrote to us a while ago about a worm that can “stand up on end and bite or bore into” skin. The worm is about a quarter of an inch long and moves like an inchworm, which is in fact a type of caterpillar, but then once it is ready to bite, “it raises up on end and tries to worm its way into the skin.” The reader has a young daughter who loves to play outside, so he is keen to find out what the biting worms may be. He hasn’t been able to take a picture of the worms that bite, nor has he been able to find out any information about them. What might these biting worms be?

What type of small, green worms hang on silk threads? A reader recently sent us this question after observing some worms “floating” outdoors (and, to be fair, small worms that hang on thin threads of silk often do look like they are floating around). They didn’t mention where they found the worms, but since the reader seems to be describing inchworms (sometimes written as “inch worms”), there is a good chance they were hanging from oak trees. So, what exactly is an inchworm, and why do we think this is the creature our reader found?

A reader recently wrote to us asking how to control the inchworm infestation of their oak tree. Inchworms (commonly written as “inch worms”) are known to infest vegetation such as trees and shrubs, making them a pest for landscapers, farmers, and gardeners. First, we’ll discuss what inchworms are – answering the question “what is an inchworm?” – and then we’ll move onto the question of controlling an inchworm infestation.

An inchworm is the larvae of moths, of the family Geometridae (phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Lepidoptera). This large, widely diffused group has more than 1,200 species indigenous to North America.

The Lamaze Musical Inchworm makes sounds such as jingle, rattle, crinkle, and squeak to keep babies engaged and it features colors such as bright yellow, green, purple, red, and white to keep babies focused and calm.