“I found other pictures that look like these and you said it was a moth”, writes this reader about the tiny, gray, worm-like creatures pictured below. “I’m interested in knowing what kind of moth larvae they are, and whether wiping it off got rid of them, or if I need to bomb them, hire an exterminator, etc. I’m looking for recommendations on the process and what products would be helpful to ensure they don’t come back. Your site is very helpful.” To start with, we want to thank our reader for the compliment: we always aim to be as helpful as we can, and we hope we can provide that same service to her. Now, there is a lot to unpack here, so we will just address each part of our reader’s submission in turn.

“What is this?” asks Shannon about the plethora of tiny, gray worm-like critters pictured below. “It was right inside the house by the sliding glass door.” Despite the lack of context, this is one of those instances where we can tell what these are based merely on the photos. This tight cluster of gray worms with black heads, next to the group of translucent ball-shaped objects, could only be American ermine moth caterpillars, otherwise known as white ermine moth caterpillars.