# Identify This Bug, (TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334 "2004-11-12T04:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/1 "2004-11-12T04:04:08Z")
Yes, it’s another one of those questions. I live in an apartment in San Francisco, Ca. Lately I’ve been noticing larva in the bathroom. They usually travel solo, being found every other day. Let’s see, they are less than a centimeter long, are dark brown at the ends and dirty white in the middle. They look almost fuzzy. I don’t have a camera to take a pic and they are so small that it would probably come in blurry anyways. If someone can tell me what i am dealing with that would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/2 "2004-11-12T04:36:11Z")
More details please. Legs, mode of travel, width. Larva doesn’t really say much, after all ant lions, caterpillars and maggots are all larvae. If you have a scanner you can place one directly on the scanner plate (on a plastic sheet of course) and photograph it at high resolution that way. ---
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/3 "2004-11-12T05:11:26Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > More details please. Legs, mode of travel, width. Larva doesn’t really say much, after all ant lions, caterpillars and maggots are all larvae. > If you have a scanner you can place one directly on the scanner plate (on a plastic sheet of course) and photograph it at high resolution that way. lar·va Audio pronunciation of “larva” ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lärv) n. pl. lar·vae (-v) or lar·vas 1. The newly hatched, wingless, often wormlike form of many insects before metamorphosis. There really isn’t much to describe. I guess i can add that yes, it is wormlike. The fact that they are so small makes descriptions hard beyond shape and color. At first i thought it was maggots, but these have brown coloring on them. ALso they are just found chilling on the wall or floor. They move very slowly too. My apartment is clean and food is properly stored so I’m not sure where they are coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/4 "2004-11-12T05:26:14Z")
Could it possibly be this? Specifically the pic of the larval stage [brown maggoty thing](http://www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen/fcfly.htm) It could be some species of fruit fly. I’d say, if they’re still showing up, walk some down (in a jar) to your closest University or Community College entomology department. A lot of colleges will have their students identify stuff for free as practice. You could also try the county’s weights and measures department. I had a job at Solono county W&M a couple of summers ago in their pest detection program. We would help people for free as a way of keeping tabs on new pests. Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/5 "2004-11-12T05:41:10Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > It could be some species of fruit fly. More likely a bathroom/filter fly larva. They would live in the drain goop of your shower. Can’t find a good picture of one though and I’ve personally only seen adults ( they’re very small and oddly moth-like in appearance with rounded, stubby wings ). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/6 "2004-11-12T06:04:59Z")
Key differences than the pics **Pullet** linked to. At the ends of the wormlike larva, it is dark brown. Also those maggots looked slimy whiel this looked fuzzy. The strange thing is i haven’t seen any adult bugs. Maybe next one i find (larva or adult), i’ll ziplock and bring to the local colleges. **Tamerlane** Thef lies you mention are also called moth flies. I found this pic: [larva](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.psu.missouri.edu/entomology/housebugs/images/arthropoda/Insecta/Diptera/Psychodidae/mothflylarvae.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.psu.missouri.edu/entomology/housebugs/images.flies.htm&h=1536&w=2048&sz=134&tbnid=r9u7Acx99ocJ:&tbnh=112&tbnw=149&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoth%2Bfly%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D) Maybe it is the magnified image, but the ones i have look fatter. For the moment i’ll assume that is what i have. Guess i need to nuke the drains. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/7 "2004-11-12T06:09:36Z")
While nuking the drains probably won’t hurt, I’d still recommend getting the grubs identified. Having lived in a variety of crummy neighborhoods, I can testify that, no matter how clean I kept my apartment, bugs would creep in from next door. If you’ve got something quietly rotting away in the baseboards, no amount of drain nukage will help. Just don’t want you to waste a lot of time and effort 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 12, 2004, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/8 "2004-11-12T10:17:06Z")
I’m wondering if they might be nematodes; these are apparently not uncommon in bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/9 "2004-11-12T11:06:01Z")
A few larvae roughly answering to the desciption in the OP fell into my bathroom a year ago or so. I figured they must have fallen through a ventilationshaft, that ends on our( flat) roof. As there is always a bit of organic matter piled in corners on the roof it makes sense that I was dealing with **Tamerlanes** ’s Moth Flies, aka Sewer Flies or Filter Flies. (Thanks **Tamerlane** , I had been wondering about them!) The Latin name is Psychoda alternata. I found this [link](http://www.entomology.ucr.edu/ebeling/ebel9-4.html#moth%20flies%20and%20allies) helpful: > [@](#): > > Moth Flies in Sewage Filter Plants > > Moth flies may develop in the muck or gelatinous material that accumulates in sewage disposal beds, septic tanks, compost, or dirty garbage containers, or they may emerge from the drains of sinks or bathtubs, from treeholes, rain barrels, or from very moist organic solids and bird nests that have accumulations of moist excreta. They are probably most commonly associated with filter sewage beds where the larvae and pupae thrive in the gelatinous film covering the filter stones or in other places where decomposing organic materials are found. The larvae are beneficial in that they feed on algae, fungi, bacteria, and sludge in sewage-disposal beds, breaking down the gelatinous film into small fecal pellets that are easily washed away. Moth flies are pests when the adult flies become so abundant that they get into the eyes, ears, and noses of the workmen in the area. They may also find their way into nearby homes, or may even originate in drain pipes within the homes. > > Psychodids go through their life cycles in 1 to 3 weeks, and live about 2 weeks after emerging. They are weak fliers, so that in the home they are generally seen crawling on walls or other surfaces. When they do fly, their flight is in short, jerky lines and for only a few feet at a time. They are attracted to lights, and are so small that they can penetrate ordinary fly screens ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/10 "2004-11-12T15:54:02Z")
Here’s a picture of a moth fly (psychodid) larva. [Link](http://www.aecos.com/CPIE/fly_larva.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/11 "2004-11-12T16:00:47Z")
No **Mangetout** , I’m pretty sure these aren’t nematodes. I want to say that these things are moth fly larva, but none of the pics truly match what i got. Next time i see one, I’m keeping it as a a specimen. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-tmi/274334/12 "2004-11-12T19:07:30Z")
Bummer ! My unexpected guests didn’t look like the pic supplied by **TwoTrouts** , either. Too bad, 'cause those woudl have been perfectly innocent useful beasties, and not indicative of low houskeeping standards, too. I’m not sure how my larvae looked, it’s well over a year ago I saw them, but I think they looked a bit like the upper beastie in [this pic.](http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent525/soil/soilpix/pages/flylarvae_jpg.htm) The shape in that pic more then the colour. How about yours, **Ludicrous**? I’ve done a [Google picture search for “larvae fly”.](http://images.google.nl/images?q=larvae+&svnum=50&hl=nl&lr=lang_nl&newwindow=1&start=0&sa=N) (warning: not for the easily grossed out by natural creepy crawlies!) **Ludicrous** , do you recognize anything?