A reader recently sent us some photographs of a specimen he discovered on his bed sheets. He is curious about what the creature is and wants to know if there is any reason that it should cause major worry. The creature is tan with a brown stripe running down its back. It has a dark brown head and thick, flat appendages lining its body. We don’t believe these are legs since we can see what we think are tiny prolegs near its head, but we aren’t totally sure what we are looking at:

We don’t know the identity of this specimen but we believe it is most likely a moth larva, which makes it a caterpillar. We think there is also a small chance that it is a grub, a.k.a. a beetle larva, but grubs are usually rounder and white or off-white, and this creature looks more like a caterpillar than a grub. We can confidently rule out the possibility of this being a carpet beetle larva, which is the most common worm-like organism that readers find in their beds. Carpet beetle larvae have small, rust-colored bodies lined with tiny bristle-like hairs, so not a match for what our reader found in his bed:

Despite not being able to identify this specimen, we are confident that our reader doesn’t need to stress out about finding it on his bed. Although we all do our best to keep our homes bug-free, worm-like organisms inevitably find their way into our houses from time to time. This specimen could have snuck in through an open door or window, or a small gap or crack in the ventilation system. Since our reader only found one of these creatures and not a whole colony, we don’t think he needs to freak out. He can simply place the creature outside and wash his bed sheets if he so desires.

To wrap up, one of our readers found a brown caterpillar on his bed. We weren’t able to provide a specific identification for the creature, but we don’t think it needs to be a cause of concern for our reader. If any of our other readers recognize this specimen, we invite them to comment on this article.

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