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Posted in Drain Fly Larvae Worms Facts Worms Found in the House

Gray Worm-like Critter Found in Shower is a Drain Fly Larva

“What type of worm or larva is this?” asks this reader about the dark gray worm-like creature pictured below. “Found in the shower. Location in northern Alabama. Thanks!” To start with, we want to thank our reader for taking such a clear picture: it really helps us get a quick grasp on what the organism might be. In this case, we think this is probably a drain fly larva. Not only does its physical characteristics match that of a drain fly larva, but the location in which it was found also makes sense. As their name suggests, drain fly larvae are usually found in drains. This is because the mother fly will lay her eggs there, specifically on the thin film that forms in drains that are not regularly cleaned.

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Posted in Drain Fly Larvae Leeches Worms Found in the House

Black Worm Found in Tub is a Drain Fly Larva

“I found this on our water while I was filling the tub”, states this reader in her query concerning the black worm pictured below. She is not sure if they are leeches or something else, and wants to know if it is harmful.

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Posted in Caterpillars Drain Fly Larvae Worms Found in the House

What is Sufficient for Cleaning a Drain Properly and Controlling Bathroom Pest Populations?

“If I do have moth larvae and you say to keep drains clean and of course dry, is cleanser adequate or do we need something super duper?” asks this reader in her query about “transparent worms” she has been finding in the kitchen and bathrooms. The creature in the photograph appears to be minuscule in size, a green/gray color, and has two rows of spots going down its back.

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Posted in Drain Fly Larvae Worms Found in the House Worms Generally

Yellow and Reddish-Brown Striped Worm in Toilet is a Drain Fly Larva

After leaving her house in South-East England empty for three months, this reader has found a worm in her toilet and wonders if we have any ideas about what it could be. The worm is described by our reader as having “yellow and reddish-brown stripes”, and zooming in on the photograph she sent us confirms, at the very least, that the worm is striped.

moth fly larva in toilet
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Posted in Army Worms Caterpillars Drain Fly Larvae

Furry Moth, Accompanied by Black Larvae, May Be a Moth Fly or a Fall Armyworm Moth

“A few days before” removing black larvae from her living room ceiling, this reader “had seen a rather large, dark, furry moth.” She believes the larvae to be moth fly larvae (otherwise known as drain fly larvae), but wonders if this moth, which was an inch in size and width, was indeed a mother moth fly, or something else entirely.

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Posted in Gross Worms Worms Found in the House Worms in Humans

Worm With Tail Found Swimming in Bathroom is a Rat-tailed Maggot

A concerned reader recently sent in this image of a worm-like creature he has been finding in his bathroom for the past two months. He says it is about an inch in length and “swims like a worm, contracting and extending its body”.

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Posted in Interesting Bugs Interesting Worms

Possible Moth Fly Larvae in toilet

One of our readers found clusters of worms in her toilet and is not sure they are. She is very concerned about where they came from and what these worms are. She did include a picture and we have determined that it is a moth fly larva.

tiny maggot in bathroom
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Posted in Interesting Bugs

Tiny White Maggots in Bathroom

We received a question from a reader recently about a small maggot, or something like a maggot, that he found in his bathroom. The reader’s email to us does a decent job covering his situation, so we’ll quote it in full (with the addition of several articles, definite and indefinite): “This tiny white maggoty looking worm with light pinkish head and tail was on the edge of my bathroom sink this morning. My shitzu sleeps with me. Maybe it crawled on me in the night and fell off me at the sink? He goes potty in a woodsy area. I know there are chiggers he brings in. I’m in west central Missouri. Just north of Kansas City and it’s the end of June. Can you identify? Thank you.”

moth fly larvae in toilet
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Posted in Gross Worms

Moth Fly Larvae in Toilet

A reader wrote to us a few days ago about some tiny larvae he is finding in his toilet bowl. He specifically asked if they are moth fly larvae, which we think is likely. The reader asked where they come from, and he also asked how to “get rid of them for good,” which perhaps suggests he has had this problem before. First we’ll discuss why we think what he found is moth fly larvae, and then we’ll move on to address where they came from and how to get rid of them.

tiny worm in shower drain
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Posted in Pest Worms

Tiny Worms in Shower Drain

A reader wrote to us a few days ago to ask about some tiny worms he found coming out of what appears to be his shower drain. (The reader said the worms came out of his “water floor trap,” but based on the pictures he submitted, we are pretty sure this means the worms are in and around the shower drain.) The reader said the worms look like earthworms, but are “very tiny,” and indeed they are, as you’ll see in a moment. Naturally, the reader was curious what he found, so he submitted some pictures to us for “analysis,” asking us to identify the tiny worms in the drain if possible.

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Posted in Pest Worms

Tons of Small Worms by the Toilet

A reader wrote to us a few days ago about some small worms (or “little tiny worms,” to use the reader’s exact phrasing) she is finding by her toilet. The small worms are black, or at least they appear to be black or some other dark color. (See the picture below.) The reader has found dozens of the worms by her toilet, so she clearly has an issue that needs to be addressed, and she is eager for information about the creatures she is finding. What are the small, black worms by the toilet our reader is finding, and what must she know about them?

Posted in Interesting Worms

Extremely Small Worms on the Bathroom Wall

A couple of weeks back, we received a question from a reader about some very small worms (actually, “very” perhaps isn’t quite strong enough of a word – they are more like extremely small worms) that were found on her bathroom wall near the ceiling. The reader sent us two pictures of the extremely small worms, which are probably not worms at all, but rather some type of larvae. Even by larvae standards, these larvae (if they are larvae) are very small. The reader only wanted to know what these little creatures are (worms? larvae? something else?), which is a modest inquiry, but a difficult one just the same.

Posted in Gross Worms Interesting Worms

Worms in the Toilet

A reader recently wrote to us about worms in the toilet. He found worms in the toilet three times, and every time he has found the worms they have been in the toilet (i.e., the worms have been nowhere else in his bathroom or house). Finding worms in your toilet is always mildly concerning, for the fear is that they might have actually come out of your body. However, the reader doesn’t think this is the case because the have always been found before any one has used the toilet, and he has taken the further measure of instructing everyone in his family to check the toilet before and after they use it, a sage approach. In every case, the worm is found before the toilet is used. So, what are these worms in the toilet, and how might our reader get rid of them?

Posted in Pest Worms

Small Worms in the Laundry Room

A concerned reader wrote to us about the small, brown worms she has been discovering in her laundry room for some time. Actually, the reader not only found the small worms in the laundry room, but also in the kitchen recently, which took her distress to new heights. She was wondering if the worms (if they are worms, which probably isn’t the case because they look like larvae – more on that in a moment) were “invading” her house. The reader was also particularly worried about the “worms” because she has two kids in her house, one of whom is only two years old. What are these small, brown worms (or larvae), and should our reader be worried about them?

Posted in Interesting Worms

Small Brown Worms

We received a picture recently from a reader of what appears to be small brown worms (or perhaps larvae). It was accompanied by a very simple question: “Can you tell what these are?” Unfortunately, the picture isn’t particularly clear, and we know no other information about the worm – if it even is a worm – in question (like where the “worm” was found, if it had any distinguishing characteristics, and so on). For this reason, we can only offer a couple of guesses based on what we do know, which, alas, is not much.

Posted in Gross Worms Pest Worms

Small Worms in the Shower

A little while back, we received a question from a reader about small worms (or larvae) he found in his shower. Actually, the word “small” doesn’t adequately capture the size of the worm (or, again, larva) our reader found because they are said to be .01 of an inch in size, which is about the size of a speck of dust. With all due respect to our reader, we think a measurement miscalculation was probably made because .01 of an inch seems impossibly small for any sort of worm or larva, and this is true regardless of whether he was referring to the length or width of the creature he found. In assuming that a mistake was made, however, we must guess at the size of the worm, further complicating our idea of the creature with which our reader is dealing.