# Help identifying strange wormy water critters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904 "2008-07-09T23:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/1 "2008-07-09T23:28:16Z")
My mom got a thing of water lilies a month or so back, and she’s growing them in a container that basically looks like half of a rain barrel. The other day while she was working in the garden she noticed a couple of these little pinkish squirming things in the water that sort of look like tiny earthworms except the body narrows to about half the width after the first 1/4 of their length. They’re roughly 1-2" long, I’d guess. I figured it’d be easier to ask here than try to look it up on wikipedia or with a google search, so does anyone have any idea what they might be? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/2 "2008-07-09T23:43:48Z")
[Planarians?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian) might be your critters. They can appear pink. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/3 "2008-07-09T23:57:11Z")
Hrmm… looking at the wiki article, these are a bit larger than the size range it lists. Also, it doesn’t look like either of the pictures they show. I might see about taking a picture and uploading it to see if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/4 "2008-07-09T23:58:16Z")
[Mosquito larvae?](http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/MedEnt/MosquitoFS/MosquitoFS.html#N10111) ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/5 "2008-07-10T00:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] [Mosquito larvae?](http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/MedEnt/MosquitoFS/MosquitoFS.html#N10111) [/QUOTE] Ick. Yeah that looks like it might be them. She says she’s been buying mosquito pellets to keep them from growing in it, but that doesn’t mean they work. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/6 "2008-07-10T00:05:00Z")
sounds a bit like bloodworms (midge larvae) > **[Chironomidae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomidae)** > > See text > The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many species superficially resemble mosquitoes, but they lack the wing scales and elongated mouthparts of the Culicidae. > The name Chironomidae stems from the Ancient Greek word kheironómos, "a pantomimist". ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/7 "2008-07-10T00:22:40Z")
Well, I went out and looked at them again, they sorta look like both larvae, but they don’t have the dark heads the mosquitoes (sp?) and the midge larvae don’t have the wide front end, and both are described as being shorter than these are. I’m thinking I should definitely get a picture tomorrow when it’s light out and put it up on photobucket or flickr, cause I’m not good at describing them. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/8 "2008-07-10T00:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] Well, I went out and looked at them again, they sorta look like both larvae, but they don’t have the dark heads the mosquitoes (sp?) and the midge larvae don’t have the wide front end, and both are described as being shorter than these are. I’m thinking I should definitely get a picture tomorrow when it’s light out and put it up on photobucket or flickr, cause I’m not good at describing them. [/QUOTE] Be careful not to drop your camera in the water - it makes the magic smoke come out. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-strange-wormy-water-critters/455904/9 "2008-07-10T01:29:38Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] …sort of look like tiny earthworms except the body narrows to about half the width after the first 1/4 of their length. They’re roughly 1-2" long, I’d guess. I figured it’d be easier to ask here than try to look it up on wikipedia or with a google search, so does anyone have any idea what they might be? [/QUOTE] They could be a number of things: are they segmented? Do they have discernable features at the mouth end? At the posterior end? Insect larvae, aquatic oligochaetes, flatworms, and leeches are potential candidates so far… big head and narrow body makes me lean in the direction of insect larvae, though. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Be careful not to drop your camera in the water - it makes the magic smoke come out. I thought it would drown the little imp that draws the picture - I’m so hopeless at keeping up with this modern magichology. 🙂