“What larva is this?” asks this reader in her submission regarding the brown-striped organism pictured below, which seems to be digging into a piece of food. “It looks similar to a carpet beetle larva, but that doesn’t make sense. I’m in the Southwest United States, and carpet beetles are in Europe, right?” Now, there are a few things to unpack here from our reader’s submission, and we will start with her first question: what larva is this indeed? Well, we think she is right in comparing it to a carpet beetle larva, as it really does resemble one, and that is exactly what we think it is.

A “bug” was found alive in this reader’s container of rice in Nipomo, California, and she has seen nothing of the sort before. The bug in question appears to be a worm-like creature which is not even close to being as big as a grain of rice, is an off-white/beige color, has a darker-colored head, and is clearly segmented.

Although worms make up the cuisine of several cultures across the globe, we Westerners typically do not regard worms as a tasty source of sustenance, especially if they were not supposed to be a part of our meal in the first place. Being surprised by a worm in your food can be an extremely unpleasant experience, and this article is going to provide some examples of the types of worms one can potentially find in their food.