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Posted in Composting Worms Worms Facts Worms Generally

Yellow-brown, Segmented Worms Found in Pool are Mealworms or Wireworms

“We started seeing an infestation of dead worms/worm-like creatures around the edge of part of the pool,” reports this reader in a small town outside Sacramento, California. The worms in question appear to have segmented, yellowish bodies, and have small legs protruding from one end of their bodies.

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Posted in Composting Worms Garden Worms Grub Worms

Waxy, White Larva Found in the Bottom of a Vermicompost Bin is a Wireworm

“What is this?” asks this reader about the white, segmented creature she found in the very bottom of her Vermicompost bin. She thinks it may be some kind of beetle larva, but nonetheless wants our help identifying it.

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Posted in Carpet Beetle Larvae Worms Facts Worms Found in the House

Striped Worms Found in Air Vent are Wireworms and One Lonesome Carpet Beetle Larva

“What are these?” asks this reader of the creatures he found in an air vent where an old chimney used to be. From the pictures our reader sent us, there seem to be different creatures, one of which is a yellow, segmented, worm-like creature, while the other is a brown-striped, bristly bug of sorts.

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Posted in Meal Worms

What are Segmented Worms With Hard Exoskeletons?

We aren’t sure if the specimens our reader found in the soil are mealworms or wireworms! We wish her the best of luck with her garden!

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Posted in Worms Found in the House

Reader Bitten By Click Beetle Larva

We believe the “creepy crawly” our reader was bitten by is a click beetle larva, a.k.a. a wireworm. These creatures don’t usually bite unless attacked or under threat, so we don’t know why it bit our reader while he was sleeping.

small white worms in potatoes
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Posted in Gross Worms Interesting Bugs

Worms found in baked potato

One of our readers emailed us after she had an incident with some worm-like creatures in her food. She told us that she had baked a potato and began to dress it with butter and the usual toppings. As she began to eat the potato, she noticed that there was an area of about 1 to 2 inches of small stuff that looked like dental floss. She said that it looked to be a pocket of worms. She is curious what these creatures are. She did not include a picture, but there is a strong possibility that it could be one of two types of worm-like creatures such a wireworms or potato tuber worms.

larvae in vacuum
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Posted in Pest Worms

Wireworms or Carpet Beetle Larvae in the House

A reader wrote to us a couple of days ago about some brown worms that she vacuumed off of her carpet. (Actually, it isn’t clear if the brown worms were on the carpet, but the picture she sent us shows the vacuum on carpet, and that’s why we make this assumption, which may be is relevant.) Unfortunately, we weren’t given any information about creature, but, as mentioned, we were sent a photo, and this photo may depict a wireworm (sometimes spelled as “wire worm”). However, she might have also found a carpet beetle larvae, so we detail both possibilities below.

Pink Worm
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Posted in Pest Worms

Pink Worms in the Bedroom

We received a question from a reader a couple of days ago on the All About Worms Facebook page about a pink worm in her bedroom on the carpet. (It’s actually more like a pink, brown, and tan worm, or perhaps a pinkish, brownish, tannish worm – it’s hard to define the worm’s color. See the picture below.) In addition to finding the worm in her bedroom on the carpet, she also found one in her living room on the laminate floor. So, the worms aren’t limited to one part of the house, and she evidently isn’t finding them in particular places (like under furniture, in a pantry, and so on). The reader happens to have two dogs, but she doesn’t think they are related to the presence of the pink worms, or in any case she doesn’t think the worms came from the dogs. Having found no information about the creature, she turned to us to ask what this pink worm in her bedroom and living room might be.

Posted in Pest Worms

Worms in Potatoes: Wireworms

A reader wrote to us to ask what kind of worms eat potatoes underground. Worms are evidently borrowing into our reader’s potatoes (or “potatos,” if you simply can’t tolerate the randomness of English spelling), leaving close to nothing behind. Not surprisingly, the reader was also wondering how to get rid of these potato worms. Of course, in order to get rid of a worm you need to know what it is, so we’ll begin by answering our reader’s first question: we suspect he found wireworms (sometimes incorrectly spelled “wire worms”), which may or may not be attacking the potatoes in conjunction with another creature. Without any pictures or a physical description of the creature our reader found, it hard to be sure that he did in fact find wireworms, but wireworms definitely seem to be the most likely candidate. In most discussions involving worms and potatoes, wireworms come up.