“I found this grub/worm on a packaged stuffed dog toy I ordered online”, writes Sarah in her submission regarding the segmented, brown, worm-like creature pictured below. “It was stuck to the fabric on a white patch that looked a bit like egg sac remnants? There was only one that I could find. What is it?” Now, what caught us off guard about this creature at first were the six appendages sticking out from one end of the creature’s body. It took us a moment to realize that the critter was upside down, and that these were its prolegs! Once we gathered that, we figured it must be some type of beetle larva, as the body shape, segmentation, and presence of prolegs point to this conclusion.

So, what species of beetle does this larva belong to? The first thing we jumped to was the carpet beetle larva, one of our most commonly written-about creatures on our website. They are notorious pests that feed on organic fibers in fabrics and other textile materials. Given that Sarah found this bug on a dog toy made from “fabric”, it would make sense for these to be carpet beetle larvae. That said, besides the coloration and segmentation, this creature does not really look all that much like a carpet beetle larva. Instead, we think it looks more like a riffle beetle larva.

Riffle beetles are an aquatic species of beetle, and both the adult insect and the larvae tend to live underwater. They feed on organic debris and algae, which they scrape off rocks, logs and leaves using the claws on their legs. Now, it does not make much sense for a riffle beetle larva to be found on a dog toy, especially if it was still alive (though Sarah did not specify if the creature was found dead or alive). With that in mind, this could be a different species of beetle whose larvae look similar to the riffle beetle’s. Either way, since Sarah only found one larva, this is definitely a one-time incident. We recommend she just move the larva and egg sac remnants outside.

To conclude, we think Sarah found a beetle larva on her dog toy, though we are unsure about what species in particular it belongs to. It should not be harmful to humans or dogs either way, but we understand her concern. We hope this helps, and we wish Sarah, as well as her dog, the very best.

Summary

Article Name

Segmented, Brown Worm on Dog Toy is a Beetle Larva

Description

"I found this grub/worm on a packaged stuffed dog toy I ordered online", writes Sarah in her submission regarding the segmented, brown, worm-like creature pictured below. "It was stuck to the fabric on a white patch that looked a bit like egg sac remnants? There was only one that I could find. What is it?" Now, what caught us off guard about this creature at first were the six appendages sticking out from one end of the creature's body. It took us a moment to realize that the critter was upside down, and that these were its prolegs! Once we gathered that, we figured it must be some type of beetle larva, as the body shape, segmentation, and presence of prolegs point to this conclusion.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton