We recently heard from a reader in Dallas, Texas. She explained that she found a worm-like organism on the bathtub pillow in her bath. She immediately threw out the pillow because she thought there might be more creatures inside of it. Regardless, she would like to know what the creature is. The photo shows shows a thin brown specimen. It has a segmented body with two tiny antennae:

We are confident that our reader has found a millipede. Although the word “worm” is in our name “All About Worms,” many of the organisms we write about are not actually worms! Millipedes fall into this category since they are technically arthropods not worms. Millipedes are often mistaken for centipedes, since both have thin, segmented bodies covered in tiny legs. However, there are a few ways to tell them apart. Millipedes have rounder bodies while centipedes’ bodies are flatter, and millipedes have two pairs of jointed legs per segment to centipedes’ one pair! Millipedes do sometimes end up inside a home, but they prefer a dark, damp environment with plenty of decaying wood and leaf litter to eat. We don’t know the specifics of how or why this millipede got into our reader’s home, but unless she finds more of them it is probably an isolated occurrence and not an infestation! She can prevent future specimens from sneaking into her home by sealing any cracks or small gaps around her windows, doors, and ventilation systems. Also, keeping her home free of debris and generally clean will make it less hospitable to millipedes and other worm-like organisms!

 

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