What the heck is this creature?!?

[TheSeventeenth]

AIBU to be freaked out by this.

We have found 3 of these in random places on our upstairs carpet over the last few days. They are a beige/green colour about 1cm across, 0.5 deep and 2cm long with a little black tail thing. Do I need to burn down my house?

@AtomHeartMotherOfGod

Googled and think it might be a soldier fly larva. There are a few forms but it looks like your beastie. I guess one got in and laid a few eggs before dying - sweep up and chuck out. It'll be OK.

Thank you so much we think this is what it is and seems the least terrible option.

It is a beastie that's currently turning into another beastie. It doesnt matter the what's and where's and the it can't bees. It just is. Clean house or not.

Just give the place a good hoover and chuck the hoover bag.

Try the iNaturalist app to identify it - with a clearer photo though! It won't bite :) It compares it to thousands of other photos, it's really good. inaturalist.org

We've had case making carpet moths but finally appear to have eradicated them. Although the larvae prefer to eat wool, if wool is no longer available to them they will eat nylon and polyester carpets, rugs or carpet tiles. Their larvae look similar to the larvae of clothes moths in the image another poster has posted, but the cases they leave behind look different.

Eggs are laid in dark places, under beds, along skirting boards, especially if there is a gap between the skirting board and the carpet, behind and underneath chests of drawers etc.

As the larvae grow, they discard their cases, often in the open. The cases are about 1cm long. Under a magnifying glass, the cases look like a roll of spun carpet fibres, often whitish in colour mixed with the colour of the carpet they have been eating.

The larva in the photo you have posted does not look like the larva of a case bearing carpet moth.

This is a good image of a case bearing clothes moth:

butterfly-conservation.org/moths/case-bearing-clothes-moth

Case bearing (or case making) carpet moths here where you can see the larvae wriggling inside the cases they spin:

Got another one here’s a much better photo. Having a look at the iNaturalist app

Reminds me of hover fly larvae.

I hope for your sake it's not a soldier fly larvae, as they lay 500 eggs at a time!

You can upload your image to Google image search for matches.

www.google.com/imghp?hl=en

and click on the camera symbol to upload your image.

INaturalist is proving to be a bit inconclusive.

Oh god whatever it is will be growing up soon. Evacuate!

I vividly remember moving into my first flat at uni (in Glasgow if relevant). With my two other flat mates, we excitedly decorated the flat, only to be met on day two by THOUSANDS of things similar to yours which hatched everywhere (in beds etc). It was horrific! In the end we got some spray and gave them a blast, all gone in a day but oh my God, it was hideous. Sorry, not much help but could be similar. I think they were carpet beetle larvae if my memory is right…?

Google image search isn’t helping either.

My app (picture insect) is saying black soldier fly

It is the larva of a hoverfly, of the genus Volucella (several species occur in the UK). They live commensally in wasp nests.

I did a Google image search and found this
diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=17090

Seemingly it turns up in the UK in October time.

That is it! A type of hoverfly called Volucella inanis. Thank you Killeditwithkisses!

Oh and thank you Gerund too!!

The second picture is not better it's worse!
It looks much more icky when it's in focus 😱😦🤣

I'm still laughing at Tony from Norwich's profile pic on that site. And now I want to know what sort of bug that is!

🤣

Perhaps he's stressed...having an existential crisis...."what even am I?" he thinks, convulsing in panic.

Giant poo crumb?

Good one - it's definitely one of those hoverflies - check you have no wasps nests nearby, since they develop inside those cells