What kind of household worms are these?!
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
My father passed away a year ago and I "inherited" some of his
furniture. His place was infested with these tiny dark brown worms
that are about the size and shape of a grain of rice (they move faster
than you'd think though...). They have lines across the body. I tried
being careful before bringing furniture over, but somehow, they've
started to infest my apt. as well! (I spotted at least 20 in a few
rooms, some dead, some living). They live inside the furniture (one of
them crawled in a chair cushion, and I don't know how to get him out
without breaking the chair to pieces). But they are usually found on
clothing that was on the floor.
I need to ID the worms to find out how to fight them. e.g. What kills
them? What entices them? (Say if I want to place something on the
chair to get them to come out). How long do they live? ( My dad has
had them in his apt. for 10-15 years!!)
I know they can die, because I often see their empty casings.
Some were found in the drawer of a night table, so I'm getting real
worried they may have found their way onto the bed & mattress. Is
there anything I can put at the legs of the bed that will prevent them
from crawling up? I hope I can get some help against these crawly
critters! pic:
LaFouine
Hi,
It Seems to be "Carpet Beetles" larva
( Hard to tell with the picture ).
Check pest control website or office to get rid of.
@+
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
It Seems to be "Carpet Beetles" larva
( Hard to tell with the picture ). *
Thanks, that's close, but I don't think that's it. These worms are
adults. They never grow into anything resembling a beetle, they look
pretty much like the pic, and they move like worms. There are
similarities, in that they appear to shed their skins, and feed off of
clothing/carpet fibres, and like dark places. But according to the web
site below, carpet beetles have rounded bodies and short antenna and
somewhat resmemble lady beetles in shape. These do not ever resemble
lady beetles as I've mentioned, and according to the photo on that
site, they're not as fat nor are they "hairy" like that. They also
don't appear to have antennae (although if its really short, it might
be possible I missed this).
Could there be something similar to carpet beetles that remains worm-
like throughout its life cycle?
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
helps!:
PIC 1:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1PxxwSdZ9g9EtaqizGILcaviwla89d0
PIC 2:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1liRFcQxXXUl2DQfKrXKLABDBI60
LaFouine
Hi,
I'm still convince that they are "Black Carpet Beetle" larva
@+
OscartheGrouch
"LaFouine" <Martes...@toto.fr.invalid> wrote in message
news:4hik9359g9k969t7b...@4ax.com...
I second that. You may not be seeing the adult phase, or you may see them
and not make the connection between them and your larvae. I'll bet that if
you looked hard you would find some tiny round beetles, possibly in quite
different places than the larvae, like window sills or crawling on the walls
periodically. That second picture though sealed it for me, it's either a
dead carpet beetle larva or the shed skin of a carpet beetle larva. They do
molt and leave their skins around as they grow in size.
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
I can see they're definitely similar to carpet beetle larvae (though
less hairy it seems?), but having done research on this bug, I know
what the various species of adult carpet beetle look like. I have
never seen even anything that remotely looks like an adult beetle in
my place, nor my father's (and they're 4 times larger than the
larvae!). Yet between both our apts., I've seen hundreds of these
worms over the course of 10 or 15 years.
My father had a very small apt. One main room, a tiny kitchen and tiny
bathroom, that's it. Out of hundreds of worms over 15 years, you'd
think I would have spotted at least a single adult beetle in such a
small space (the worms were never found in the kitchen or bathroom, so
their roaming space was even smaller than the apt). He was on the
second floor of the building with no garden directly outside his
window, plus he very rarely ever opened the screen door to let any of
them out in 15 years. Shouldn't his small apt. have been infested with
about as many adult beetles as larvae, eventually?
To be certain it couldn't be something else, can anyone say if there
is a wom that resembles this larvae of carpet beetle (and sheds skin/
casings), but remains as a worm throughout its life? Here's another
pic of two of them, side by side, if it helps:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1W0Vj2IunzGU7Ur4dGi45Rk3MLg5K0
OscartheGrouch
(and they're 4 times larger than the
> larvae!).
Ok, what's that mean? What is 4 X larger than the larvae?
Do you think adult carpet beetles are 4 X larger than their larvae? They
aren't. They are as tiny as you would think a larva that size would produce.
Anyway, if you have an extension office or a University nearby, or even a
pest control company I guess, take some samples in and ask. Report back what
you find. My money is still riding on Carpet Beetles.
txbugluver76
I'm leaning toward carpet beetle larva myself, but you could always
ask these 'guys'
http://www.whatsthatbug.com
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
**Do you think adult carpet beetles are 4 X larger than their larvae?
They aren't. They are as tiny as you would think a larva that size
I read that CB larvae are 1/4 the size of adults, so I multiplied by
4! GOT A NEW PIC! This time, I may have found the mother! She looks
like she might be an adult carpet beetle, and she's definitely larger
than the larvae I keep finding! She was found on a cotton jersey in my
laundry hamper (already dead). (BTW, there were both dead and live
wormies in and underneath that hamper). I note that if this is indeed
a black carpet beetle, this was the only one I observed in 15 years of
observing these worms!
Can someone positively confirm from the poor quality photos (sorry!
It's Polaroid's fault!) if this is indeed a black carpet beetle?
Because it's the only one I ever found like this, I want to be certain
there's a relation between the worms and this thing. It looks like an
elongated oval shaped lady bug but mostly black, with a whitish
transparent midsection that has a few small black dots. There are
about 6 large legs on the underbelly, and as you might notice in the
pic, a ridge down the middle of the back (below the white midsection).
OscartheGrouch
<w_j_wo...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1184644302.5...@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
Where is this pic?
OscartheGrouch
> I read that CB larvae are 1/4 the size of adults, so I multiplied by
> 4!
Well that's a tricky statement. Early instar larvae, (young ones, not grown
much yet) would produce some in the range of a quarter of the size of an
adult. You may have seen a range of sizes from early to late instars. (An
instar is each stage of growth between molts.) Later instars getting close
to pupation will be approaching the size of the adult beetle. This is a bit
complicated by the fact that the adult and the larvae are basically of
different shapes. Body mass is a better measurement. I just rebelled at the
idea that a larve going into pupation then emerges as an adult FOUR TIMES
bigger than it was as a larva. That makes no sense.
H.R.Of...@gmail.com
It might be the two-spot carpet beetle (Attagenus pelio). It´s larvae
are slightly different from the black carpet beetle (see
http://www.pbase.com/image/36891362).
Herman
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
Still trying to get a 100% positive ID on the wormies/bugs that have
invaded my rugs, clothing and furniture. Getting closer! I found a NEW
species of adult! If you look at the pics below, you'll see one looks
like a black beetle, the other like a brown.
Can someone positively confirm from the poor quality photos if this is
indeed a black carpet beetle and a brown? Because they are the only
ones I ever found like this (in 15 years of observing larvae), & I
want to be certain there's a relation between the worms and this
thing. The black guy looks like an elongated oval shaped lady bug but
mostly black, with a whitish transparent midsection that has a few
small black dots. There are about 6 large legs on the underbelly, and
as you might notice in the pic, a ridge down the middle of the back
(below the white midsection). He was found on a cotton shirt in the
laundry hamper.
Blackie:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1dRUEPC6ikEBGvIPv4IR3Ls9z7rFi40
Brownie:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1IKz4dTYrtnQmwK6kIWMKb0NJpAc
The brown feller (photographed on foolscap paper) has a ridge in the
same area as the black, and was found with the large larva seen next
to it in the accompanying photo, on the same rag in the laundry. Is it
a coincidence or more than coincidence to find black & brown carpet
beetles infesting the same place?
Given that's it's been so rare to find an adult beetle, I just want to
rule out the possibility that these might be "worms" that never go
beyond the worm stage (something tells me the fact that I'm seeing
their shells/casings that this proves they are in fact "baby beetles",
and do not remain in worm/larvae form for life). The worms do look
similar to the two-spot carpet beetle larvae H.R.Offere...@gmail.com
posted (thanks), but I can't see them being as hairy (below the front
legs or the rest of the body) as in that high-rez pic. Maybe my small
magnifying glass just doesn't show me that kind of detail, and they
really are.
H.R.Of...@gmail.com
> Still trying to get a 100% positive ID on the wormies/bugs that have
> invaded my rugs, clothing and furniture. Getting closer! I found a NEW
> species of adult! If you look at the pics below, you'll see one looks
> like a black beetle, the other like a brown.
>
> Can someone positively confirm from the poor quality photos if this is
> indeed a black carpet beetle and a brown? Because they are the only
> ones I ever found like this (in 15 years of observing larvae), & I
> want to be certain there's a relation between the worms and this
> thing. The black guy looks like an elongated oval shaped lady bug but
> mostly black, with a whitish transparent midsection that has a few
> small black dots. There are about 6 large legs on the underbelly, and
> as you might notice in the pic, a ridge down the middle of the back
> (below the white midsection). He was found on a cotton shirt in the
> laundry hamper.
>
> Blackie:
>
>
> Brownie:
>
> http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1IKz4dTYrtnQmwK6kIWMKb0NJpAc
>
> The brown feller (photographed on foolscap paper) has a ridge in the
> same area as the black, and was found with the large larva seen next
> to it in the accompanying photo, on the same rag in the laundry. Is it
> a coincidence or more than coincidence to find black & brown carpet
> beetles infesting the same place?
>
> Given that's it's been so rare to find an adult beetle, I just want to
> rule out the possibility that these might be "worms" that never go
> beyond the worm stage (something tells me the fact that I'm seeing
> their shells/casings that this proves they are in fact "baby beetles",
> and do not remain in worm/larvae form for life). The worms do look
> similar to the two-spot carpet beetle larvae H.R.Offere...@gmail.com
> posted (thanks), but I can't see them being as hairy (below the front
> legs or the rest of the body) as in that high-rez pic. Maybe my small
> magnifying glass just doesn't show me that kind of detail, and they
> really are.
I am convinced that you are dealing with just one species of ordinary
carpetbeetle (two-spotted or otherwise). The fact that you find so
little adults makes sense since only a small percentage of eggs makes
it to adult stage. Mortality is high among larvae. You do also find a
lot of shed skins because larvae will shed their skin up to five times
before reaching adult stage. You end up with a lot of larvae and skins
and just a few adults. Adults will vary a little in colour between
brown and black.
Investations of furniture can be treated with steam for some minutes.
This treatment should be repeated after four weeks because some eggs
or pupae may have survived.
Herman
w_j_wo...@yahoo.com
my bug infestation with confidence that I have the right species. Now
I understand why so few adults and 2 color of bugs.
Is there any other method than steam to get them out of furniture? One
of them crawled into the seat of a chair and I couldn't get him out
without ripping the chair apart. It's upholstered in vinyl topside and
has wood or cardboard underneath. Steam (as say from an iron?) won't
penetrate this (I imagine whatever moisture can reach him from an
iron, would probably just give him a good shower and make him feel all
refreshed, and ready for a good chew...).
How about just killing them? Can I kill them?? I would so dearly love
to kill them....