hammerhead worm
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Posted in Flatworm Hammerhead Worm

Fishing with Hammerhead Worms

We recently received a question from a reader about whether or not it is possible to fish with hammerhead worms. The reader didn’t actually ask about hammerhead worms specifically, but she sent us a picture of what we are basically certain is a hammerhead worm, and then asked if she can fish with it. We’ll first provide some basic information about these creatures, and then we’ll move on to the more specific topic of fishing with hammerhead worms.

worm on head
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Worm Crawling on Head

A reader sent us a question the other day about a worm, or what “seems to be a worm,” that was found on her mother’s head. The reader went through quite a bit of trouble to figure out what she found, researching online and consulting her notes from a zoology class, but she couldn’t figure out what was on her mom’s head. She therefore wrote to us, hoping that we might be able to help with the matter of identification.

carpet beetle larva in car
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Posted in Pest Worms

Worms in Carpet and Clothing

A reader wrote to us the other day about “carpet worms, carpet beetles, and possibly a moth worm” that she has seen moving in her carpet. The worms and beetles, which we’ll define more precisely below, are also eating holes in her shirt and “causing” lint to build up. The infestation has gotten so bad that the reader feel pricks when she walks around the carpet. For obvious reasons, she wants to get of the worms and beetles she is finding, and she wrote to us for help.

red and tan worm in kitchen
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Posted in Pest Worms

Small Worm with Red Bodies and Tan Heads in the Kitchen

A reader wrote to us recently to ask about two worms she found in her kitchen. The worms have red bodies and tan heads, and they are perhaps a half an inch (one centimeter) long. The reader isn’t particularly concerned with what they are, and is instead focused on the question of where they came from. She has no indoor houseplants, and her windows and doors have been closed. She also says she has no food, but it is hard to take this literally, so perhaps she just doesn’t have food that is laying around the kitchen. As the reader points out, though, these two worms must of come from somewhere, and where might that be?

Bloodworm
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Worm Picking: The Multi-Million Dollar Hunt for Bloodworms

Unless you are a fisherman who lives along the Northeastern coast of the U.S., there is a good chance you haven’t heard of worm picking or worm digging, at least not as a profession. However, worm picking, or the gathering of bloodworms to be sold as fish bait, is a multi-million dollar industry with thousands of licensed practitioners. In any given year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of worms are gathered and sold. But before you quit your job and head northeast to strike it rich, you should know that worm picking can be a brutally difficult job that is really not that remunerative. A lot of luck is involved, and the competition for worms can be fierce. It is also potentially dangerous since a bloodworm bite can cause an allergic reaction.

millipede with antennae
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Earthworm with Feelers? Probably Millipedes

A reader wrote to us through the All About Worms Facebook page about something that “looks like an earthworm but it has feelers.” By “feelers,” we presume the reader means antennae, and the picture the reader sent along with her question does in fact show a skinny, worm-like creature with what appear to be antennae. Earthworms do not have antennae, as the reader indirectly implies, so we think she might have actually found some type of millipede for reasons we will now outline.

carpet beetle larvae on wall
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Posted in Pest Worms

How to Get Rid of Worms or Pests in Your House Naturally and Without Using an Exterminator

A few days ago we received a strange question about getting rid of worms or some other pest without the use of an exterminator. Actually, the question isn’t so much strange as it is incomplete, as we are only asked about getting rid of something, but the something isn’t specified. To see what we mean, here is the whole message we received, with a few minor corrections: “how do I get rid of them, without the cost of an exterminator? Is there any home remedies or pesticides that work?” No picture was submitted along with these questions, so this is all we are working with, and all we can offer are a couple of pieces of advice to our reader, as well as a general remark or two about the project of getting rid of worms or other pests.

black flatworm
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Posted in Worms Generally

Black Flatworm with Brown Underside in Backyard

A reader in south Louisiana wrote us a question a few days ago about a black worm with a brown underside that he found in his backyard. The worm is about three or four inches (seven to ten centimeters) long, and its body is flat. The reader was wondering what type of worm he found, and if it is parasitic. The latter concern is connected to his dog, who has had issues before with worm infections. We’ll do our best to address both issues, which are of course related.

red pink worm in germany
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Red, Pink Worm in Garden in Germany

A red worm was found by a reader in Northern Germany – or perhaps we should say ein roter Wurm wurde von einem Leser in Norddeutschland gefunden – and he wrote to us to see if we might be able to identify it. The worm was found in a garden, where it was mostly underground, and it is not exactly red. Its overall body is more like a pinkish color, but the bottom of the worm’s body is almost white. More precisely, the color of the worm fades as you move down its body – the top is a red or dark pink color, the middle is a light pink, and then the bottom is almost entirely white. What might our reader have found?

bristle worm
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Posted in Bristle Worms Marine Worms

Bristle Worms Dying in Aquarium

We received a question via the All About Worms Facebook page from a reader whose bristle worms have died in his aquarium. Actually, the worms didn’t just die, but “simultaneously combusted,” although presumably this can’t be taken too literally, as we don’t see how worms in a fish tank could be consumed by fire. The reader isn’t worried about the worms themselves, but he is concerned if the death of the bristle worms is a bad portent, spelling trouble for the rest of the tank. So, essentially, the reader wants to know what it means when the bristle worms in your aquarium die.

gray worm thing
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Posted in Caterpillars

Gray “Worm Thing” with Horns

A reader wrote to us through the All About Worms Facebook page about a grayish “worm thing” that she came across. The creature is about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) long, and it has horns on one end of its body. Interestingly, the creature is also reported to have “holes or suckers” on its bottom side. Overall, the reader describes the creature as “terrifying,” and says that she “would die if it touched me.” She is therefore keen to know what she found and where it came from. What could this gray, horned worm-like thing be?

red inch worm
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Posted in Pest Worms

Brown Inchworms in the Kitchen

We received a brief and somewhat perplexing question from a reader a few days ago about brown inchworms in the kitchen. In fact, her entire email consisted of the question “what are brown inchworms in the kitchen?” – and nothing else was written. We therefore aren’t sure what our reader’s situation is, and we also aren’t really sure what information she is looking for. Brown inchworms in the kitchen are, well, brown inchworms in the kitchen, and we don’t really know what else to say about the matter. What we can do, however, is provide a little information about inchworms, so we’ll focus on this general theme below.

tiny white worm in soil
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Tiny White Worms in Soil

We recently received a question from a reader who found a “very tiny and almost transparent white” worm in her soil. She sent a picture along with her question, and this does indeed show a very small worm or worm-like creature that is white and kind of transparent (or technically translucent, we suppose). The reader was only trying to identify the tiny white worm in her soil, so we’ll focus on identification and leave the matter there.

Horsehair worm in pool
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Posted in Interesting Worms

Horsehair Worms in the Garden

A reader recently submitted a question via the All About Worms Facebook page about a worm “coming out of the ground” in his garden. The most distinguishing characteristic of the worm is that it is “very thin, almost like nylon fish line,” and it moves in a “swaying motion.” The reader only asked if what he found is a type of worm, but we’ll do him one better by identifying the exact worm we think he found: a horsehair worm (occasionally spelled “horse hair worm”). Since horsehair worms are nematodes (roundworms), they are actually worms, not just creatures that everyday language, with its understandable but often frustrating contempt for scientific precision, has wrangled into the “worm category.”

Bloodworm
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Posted in Fishing Worms

Rearing or Cultivating Glycera dibranchiata (Bloodworms)

We received a very specific question from a reader a few days ago about cultivating the “marine bloodworm Glycera dibranchiata.” Glycera dibranchiata are commonly used for fish bait, so the reader’s motivation for rearing or breeding bloodworms – essentially, setting up a bloodworm farm – is presumably tied to fishing. The reader was first of all wondering if bloodworms can be cultivated “successfully,” and if so, he was wondering how he might go about doing so. He also wanted to know if there are any publications that are available to assist with the rearing task.

Small worm by euro
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Posted in Pest Worms

How to Get Rid of Inchworms and Silkworms

The other day we received a message from a reader who wants to know how to get rid of inchworms and silkworms, or how to get rid of “inch worms” and “silk worms,” as she has it. To call what we received a “message” is a bit misleading, however, since all we were sent was a mere sentence fragment composed almost entirely of capital letters. (Inexplicably, one instance of the word “worm” was written normally, but the rest was all caps.) We’ll try our best to answer our reader’s question, such as it is.

one-inch white worm in garden
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Posted in Garden Worms

One-Inch White Worm or Larvae in Garden

We recently received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page about a white worm in the top soil of a reader’s garden. The white worm (or potentially white larva) is about an inch long (2.5 centimeters) and is fairly skinny. The reader was only looking for an identification, so we’ve concentrated our efforts on this matter. What could a one-inch white worm or larva in the garden be?

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Posted in Interesting Worms

Black Worm or Caterpillar with Red Dots

We received an interesting and faintly poetic question the other day about a black “worm” that has a red dot on each body segment. Here is her entire question: “Middle of May, Northern California, Black worm about two inches long, seems hairless has what appears to be thin covering of bristles, red dots on each segment, racing across my deck floor. Please identify.” Unfortunately, no picture was submitted along with the question, so this description is all we have to work with. Obviously, this limits our ability to offer a confident suggestion, but we’ll do what we can.

earthworm on carpet
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Posted in Pest Worms

Worms Under the Bathtub

We received a long and somewhat complex email from a reader detailing a worm problem that appears to be stemming from her bathroom – from a crack at the base of her bathtub, more specifically. On multiple occasions, the reader has found worms in her bathroom and in the hallway outside the bathroom, and one has even managed to make it into the reader’s bed (her bedroom is next to the bathroom). The reader asked a few different questions, but at bottom she was wondering what kind of worms she is finding, and what she can do to get rid of the worms in her bathroom, bedroom, and hallway.

mystery bug
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Posted in Interesting Bugs

Short and Aggressive Worms

The other day a reader sent us one of the most notable messages we have ever received, and by “one of the most notable” we mean “one of the most outrageously brief,” and by “message” we mean “unpunctuated sentence fragment.” Here is the question, as it were, quoted in all its cryptic glory: “what looks kinda like a earth worm but shorter and are aggressive.” That statement, sans the period, is all we received from the reader, and then he was off like a thief in the night. What indeed looks like an earthworm but is shorter and aggressive?