“Can you please help identify this worm?” asks this reader in their submission regarding the white and yellow-striped worm-like critter pictured below. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Well first off, we want to say thank you to our reader for sending in this great photo! To us, this looks like a caterpillar of some kind, though we are not entirely sure what species of caterpillar it is. It could also be a sawfly larva, which are often mistaken for caterpillars. What we will say is that we recommend that our reader avoid direct physical contact with the creatures, since we do not know what they are. Allergic reactions can occur with unknown species. We do not think it is highly likely with this caterpillar, as typically poisonous caterpillars possess bristles, but that is not always a given.

“I noticed my solar sprinkler bucket was empty yesterday, so I filled it with fresh water. When I looked today, all these little black things were scooting around the bottom of the bucket”, writes this reader in her submission, which unfortunately does not include a photo. “When I move the sprinkler to see them, they scuttle under it again. Can’t get a good photo. The biggest one is about a quarter inch. They move like caterpillars but faster. Don’t know if they were nesting inside the sprinkler head or if they fell off the honeysuckle.” Since our reader did not send in any photos with her submission, nor did she describe them in much detail, we will say right off the bat that we will be unable to provide a certain or accurate identification.

“I found this caterpillar crawling on this rock outside my garage”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the black and yellow creature pictured below. “I live in Central Minnesota. I haven’t been able to identify it and I’m hoping you can tell me what it is? Thank you!” To start with, we want to thank our reader right back for this absolutely incredible photo! It is photos like these that make identifying the organisms we are asked about so much easier. Besides, they make a wonderful addition to our library. And because of this, we can indeed tell our reader what this is. This is a dogwood sawfly larva.

“I found your website on Google and hope you could help me with the worm in the attached photo”, writes Diane in Japan about the little greenish grey creature pictured below. “It is grey with a black head, no legs. I am located in Aichi, Japan, and this is the second time I found it in my house (last night, first time): one time on the wall, the other on the object near the same wall. Both times were around 8 or 9 pm, when the temperature went down to about 26 degrees Celsius. One of my friends said it looked like those you find in vegetables. But it doesn’t explain why I find it two nights in a row when there’s no uncooked vegetables kept in the open air? they are all in the fridge which is three meters away, by the opposite wall. I am honestly worried about the possibility that there may be more of them in the house, whether it is harmful, and how to get rid of it. I’d really appreciate it if you could help me.”

“Finding these worms in the pool — wondering how/what to treat to get rid of them”, states this reader in her submission. She asks about these dark green/gray worm-like organisms pictured below.

“This morning I went outside to find one of her dog toys absolutely covered in these tiny worms/maggots,” states this reader in her submission. The worms she is referring to appear to be an off-white color, with semi-transparent skin and segmented bodies.

“What kind of worm or caterpillar is this?” asks this reader in Northeastern New York State. His question pertains to the caterpillar-like creature pictured below, which seems to be a dark blue or purple color.

“What are these tiny worm-like creatures? We get quite a few and have had 2 groups this morning” writes this reader about the horde of larvae-like organisms pictured below. The cola-colored “worm-like” creature was allegedly “deposited/dropped by something onto” our reader’s “tile patio outside”.

“What are these caterpillars collected in Western North Carolina on pagoda dogwood in mid August?” asks this reader of the creatures in the photograph below. The critters, as we can see, are black and yellow in color, with clear segments divided by gray lines and multiple legs on the underside of their bodies.

White caterpillars with black spots were found in this woman’s house in Ypsilanti, MI, and she would greatly appreciate our assistance in identifying them. She has found three so far, crawling under and on top of her couch, and even under some cushions.

A worried mother wrote to us from Melbourne, Australia. She is concerned because she has found some worms or larvae in her baby’s pram (stroller). The creatures move quite quickly and are about 2mm (a bit less than 1/10”) long. She would like to know what they are, if she should be worried for her baby’s health, and where they came from.

A reader (or, technically, the daughter-in-law of a reader who wrote in on her behalf) found some small, green worms in her garden. She recently moved into a new house and was doing some preliminary gardening work when she found the “tiny green worms,” to use the reader’s precise wording, and she was wondering what they might be. We’ll do our best to assist, starting with this: the small, green worms our reader found might have been small and green, but they almost certainly aren’t worms. Rather, they are probably insect larvae, or possibly caterpillars, both of which are commonly mistaken for worms, which is actually a scientifically imprecise term.