Hook worms are intestinal parasites that are quite common in cats and dogs, especially kittens and puppies. They can also infect humans. Hook worms (also written as “hookworms”) can be found throughout North America, but some types of hook worm are more likely to be found in tropical and semitropical regions. There are several types of hook worm including: A. caninum (canine hook worm), A. braziliense (canine and feline hookworm), U. stenocephala (Northern canine hook worm), and A. tubaeforme (feline hook worm).

At a minimum of 8 inches long, the ribbon worms body is long and lean with finlike appendages. Some giant ribbon worm species or ‘Lineus longissimus’ may reach up to 100 feet long.

Wax worms look like dull white caterpillars. They have thick bodies and a dark head. After mating, the female wax worm will lays her eggs and the cycle will begin again.

A reader wrote to us a while ago to ask about worm she found on the beach. Actually, she didn’t really ask about a worm on the beach – she wasn’t particularly interested in the beach worm itself – but she did mention it bit her son. Presumably, this is what concerned her about the worm. Peculiarly, though, she didn’t ask us anything. She merely said she found a white worm on the beach (it might have been more of a tan color, adds the reader) and that it bit her son, which created a mark on his skin that is red and itchy. Nothing else is added to the email – not even a period. We are of course in the business of answering questions, and the reader submitted her question through our eternally popular “Submit a Question” feature, so we are compelled to supply some information about her situation. What is this worm on the beach? Is this beach worm even a beach worm at all? Are worms on the beach generally dangerous?

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.”

We received a very interesting question recently about, essentially, parasitic worms that infect other worms. Most of us have heard of parasitic worms that infect other hosts, including humans, but are there parasitic worms that take worms themselves as their host? More broadly, the reader was wondering if there is any “example of a parasitic animal whose host is a worm,” so in addition to looking for parasitic worms that infect worms, we are also looking for any sort of parasite that takes a worm as a host.

A reader wrote to us a while back about a long brown worm with black stripes that she found in a decaying stump. Fortunately, she sent us an excellent photo of the brown worm, which we were quickly able to identify as a hammerhead worm (sometimes understandably, but incorrectly, spelled “hammer head worm”). The reader was merely wondering what the long brown worm was, so we’ve technically already answered her question, but if we stopped writing now, we wouldn’t have a very satisfying article to read. So, below we supply some information about hammerhead worms, which includes the reader’s excellent picture.

Grub worms, with their white C-shaped bodies, are lawn pests that are difficult to eradicate. In the larvae, or grub stage, grub worms feast on the turf’s root system.

Vermiculture is the practice of ranching – with worms. As the population grows, the vermiculture worms are used or sold for composting and for bait.

Worms in dogs are commonly found in the intestinal tract and sometimes in the heart. Professional treatment and owner prevention are critical to the well-being of your canine companion.

Heart worms affect dogs, cats, coyotes, wolves, and other wild animals. The heart worm was first found in dogs over a century ago. Heart worm disease is often found within 150 miles the gulf and Atlantic coasts.

Hook worms can not only invade your family pet, but can also infect people. Hook worms infect both pets and people in the same way, by penetrating the skin.

Silk worms are really not worms at all! Silk worms are actually the larvae of certain types of moths! The silk worm has been used for centuries in the manufacturing of textiles.

Pinworms, also known as pin worms, or just pin worm, are a tiny parasitic worm which lives in the human intestinal tract. Pin worm infections are thought to infect as many as 400million people worldwide, and 40million in the United States alone. Pin worms often affect children.

Segmented worms are placed in the phylum Annelida, which consists of over 12,000 species of segmented worms grouped into three classes comprising freshwater worms and earthworms, marine worms, and leeches.

There are nearly 10,000 species of bristle worm. Bristle worms can be tiny or large. Bristle worms can be benign or predatory. In fact, the bristle worm family is as diverse a worm family as one could hope to find.

So you think all earthworms are the same? Think again! There are 4400 known species of earthworms on our planet!

Worms in humans are often, but not always, filarial worms. Filarial worms are parasitic worms in humans that require a human host to survive and complete the life cycle.

Do you know how many species of segmented worms there are? Did you know that segmented worms are highly evolved, with a circulatory system and complex nervous system? There are over 12,000 species of segmented worm – how many segmented worms can you name?

Loa Loa worms (also known as the “eye worm”) are classified as filarial worms, meaning they thrive in human tissue. Loiasis, often misspelled as “loaisis”, is the infestation of loa loa worms in humans.