“I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and today found these larvae or worms on a towel on the floor by my bed”, writes John from Calgary, Alberta, Canada about the striped, worm-like creature pictured below. “My two dogs also sleep in the bed. Please help!” Based on the photo alone, we can tell that this is a carpet beetle larva. This is because we have written about these critters more than any other worm-like organism on this site. If one were to judge what the most commonly-spotted critters in one’s home were, they would think that carpet beetle larvae are right up there with spiders and house flies. But that is not really true: despite being common, not everyone is as likely to find these in one’s home.

“These are tiny, brown segmented worms”, states this reader in her submission regarding the creature pictured below. “They have something like hair at the ends of their tails.”