A woman recently contacted us about a moth infestation she has been experiencing over the past couple of months, and she asks for our help in identifying and dealing with the problem. She has herself identified the moths as pantry moths (Indianmeal moths) “because they have a stripe across their body”, but is now wondering whether or not they could be drain moths.

We received an excellent photo a while ago of what a reader described as two large groupings – or “packs” – of small white worms or larvae that were formed in lines. Since we are pretty certain she found fungus gnat larvae, or more specifically what are sometimes called “fungus gnat larvae snakes,” we will refer to them only as “small white larvae,” and not hedge by writing “small white larvae or worms.” The reader found the lines of white larvae – or we suppose they are actually more like see-through larvae with black heads – on her concrete patio, and was merely wondering what they are. As we said above, they look like gnat fly larvae, so the reader’s question has technically already been answered, but below we provide a little more information about these strange configurations of creations. What exactly are fungus gnat larvae, and why do they group together to form “snakes.”

A reader wrote to us the other day about some small white larvae she found all over a towel on the floor of her home. Apart from being quite small – they are about a half centimeter in length at most – they also have a black interior, almost as if a black larva lived within the white larva. The larvae are therefore almost clear – they are see-through in the way that a light-colored mound of Jell-O might be. The reader is wondering what these creatures are and is concerned about their presence, primarily because she has small children in the house. So, what are the small, white larvae (or clear larvae) with the black insides that our reader recently found?