“What kind of worm is this, and how do I prevent another one in my home?” asks this reader in her submission about the greenish worm pictured below. “I awoke to a bite or sting from this fellow on my back shoulder. We are in North Florida, 6/25/22. I felt it crawling on my arm, knocked it off, went back to sleep to awake to a burning feeling on my back. Do you know what it is?” Based on the creature’s possession of six legs and its antennae, we are inclined to identify this as a beetle larva of some kind, though we do not know exactly what species it belongs to.

The creature almost resembles a scarlet malachite beetle larva, were it not for the green coloration instead of a pink one, as well as its antennae. It is not unheard of for some species of beetle larvae to be able to bite people, so that is likely what happened in our reader’s situation. We recommend that our reader move this larva outside using a dustpan and gardening gloves, so that she can avoid making physical contact with the larva, should it bite her again. Likewise, we suggest she search the rest of her home for more roaming larvae, just to ensure that there is not an infestation going on.

With the exception of carpet beetles, wood-boring beetles, and some other species of beetles that are pests, most species of beetles would not purposefully infest a home as their diet typically consists of plants such as trees and fruits, or the nectar from flowers. If there was an infestation, it is likely that the mother beetle simply laid her eggs inside the home, either because it wandered into the home and got trapped, or because it deemed the home a safe place for her eggs to hatch. Of course, it is equally possible that this one larva wandered into our reader’s home, and that she will not find any more of these in her home.

In conclusion, we think that the multi-legged, greenish worm-like creature that bit our reader is some type of beetle larva. Though we were not able to provide a specific identification, we hope nonetheless that our reader found something useful in this article. That said, if any of our other readers have any ideas as to the identity of this larva, they are more than welcome to share them in the comments section below. We wish our reader the very best!

Summary

Article Name

Green Worm with Antennae and Six Legs is a Beetle Larva

Description

"What kind of worm is this, and how do I prevent another one in my home?" asks this reader in her submission about the greenish worm pictured below. "I awoke to a bite or sting from this fellow on my back shoulder. We are in North Florida, 6/25/22. I felt it crawling on my arm, knocked it off, went back to sleep to awake to a burning feeling on my back. Do you know what it is?" Based on the creature's possession of six legs and its antennae, we are inclined to identify this as a beetle larva of some kind, though we do not know exactly what species it belongs to.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton