A couple of nights ago I found a strange little worm/larva/bug-type thingy on the carpet in my cats’ room, right in front of their litterbox (which might be a coincidence). I’ve never seen anything like it before, so I’m wondering if anybody has any insight into what it might be. It:
is about a quarter of an inch long
is kind of a medium tan in color
looks like a tiny segmented worm
is not the kind of worm cats get that sometimes pokes out of their bums–I’ve seen those and it doesn’t look like that.
has a tiny crop of hairs sprouting from its rear end.
has no antennae
appears to have many very tiny legs
has an underbelly of a much lighter tan than its upper part.
appears to be very hardy, as it’s still alive after having been sealed in a contact lens case 2 days ago.
I’d take a picture but my digital camera won’t focus in that tight.
Any ideas? Should I be looking for more of these? So far I haven’t seen any others.
Is it a wool carpet? If so, it could be a wool-eating moth larva. If so, big trouble. If not, there’s a big variety of critters it could be; most of them harmless.
I’ve got those! I think they’re carpet beetle larvae or something. Not house centipedes- those are (the centipedes are) much bigger. I’m now sitting with my feet protectively drawn up off the ground because of that picture. I hate centipedes.
I don’t think it’s a carpet beetle–the text says they’re densely covered with bristles, and this little guy isn’t. The only bristles are the ones coming out of his back end. Other than that, he’s pretty smooth. Is there a carpet beetle larva that isn’t bristly?