“I’m a wildlife carer and currently have two baby noisy miners. Today I found the photographed larvae (?) in their nest”, writes Lee in her submission regarding the translucent creature with dark entrails pictured below. “Was hoping to find out what it is.” For context for our other readers, a noisy miner is a type of bird endemic to Australia. It is very pretty, with grey, white, and yellow markings, and is named after its noisy nature. From the photo alone, we are not sure what these creatures are that Lee found, though we do agree that they are probably larvae of some kind, given their shape and general physical appearance.

“Can carpet beetle larvae live on a human host?” asks this reader in his submission. He has had problems with sores on his head, ears, face and neck, which last approximately three months.

A glossy, black worm-like creature was found by this reader in his friend’s room. He says there are a lot of them and asks that we tell him what it is.

Worms were found by this reader in her infant’s bassinet, and she wonders what they could be. The worms appear to have segmented bodies, with long bristles extending from the entirety of their bodies. One of them is black in color, and the other brown.

A few days ago we received a strange question about getting rid of worms or some other pest without the use of an exterminator. Actually, the question isn’t so much strange as it is incomplete, as we are only asked about getting rid of something, but the something isn’t specified. To see what we mean, here is the whole message we received, with a few minor corrections: “how do I get rid of them, without the cost of an exterminator? Is there any home remedies or pesticides that work?” No picture was submitted along with these questions, so this is all we are working with, and all we can offer are a couple of pieces of advice to our reader, as well as a general remark or two about the project of getting rid of worms or other pests.