What type of insect is this?

[old_oak66]

I was changing the linen on my bed today - which I hasten to add, I do regularly, when I noticed a tiny (5mm) caterpiller type insect on the bed. When I went to touch it,it curled up in a tight coil and I didn't get a very good look at it. At a quick glance it looked like a tiny earwig - but looking up earwigs on the internet, it doesn't appear to be that type of insect. It did have 2 "prongs" near its head though. Anyone any ideas? Do I have to get the fumigators in?

[drestie]

Can you describe it a bit more?
Did it have visible legs? How many?
And noticeable body segments?

Google "house centipede" - did it perhaps look like that?

[theprof]

I think you've got pets in the house and it's probably either a dog or a cat that sleeps in your bedroom, probably on the bed. Either that or you've had animal visitors.

What you describe is typical of a flea larvae. Have a look here:

http://www.fleafree.co.uk/about_fleas/en/index .shtml

Click the larvae option on the left of the page and see if the picture resembles what you've seen. Lots of other images are available if you Google "flea larvae".

Fumigation should be a last resort. We've got two cats at home, one of which is a tricolour and hardly ever goes out, while the other is a tabby that's out permanently. The tabby "gave" the tricolour fleas, and she developed an eczematous flea allergy on her back near the tail. We took her down the vet, who drenched her in "Frontline" spray and gave her a corticosteroid injection and she's been OK since.

The tabby was started on a course of "Frontline" ampoules which are applied on the skin on the neck. The chemical kills fleas before they lay eggs and thus, the flea life cycle is broken.

Before treatment, the tabby often slept in the youngest daughter's bedroom on the bed and initially left the odd flea egg on the bed linen. Our daughter alerted us one night to the flea larvae which had hatched from the eggs. Your description almost exactly matches hers when she came downstairs.

Get the pets treated as soon as possible is the best advice I can give you. Frontline has revolutionised the treatment of flea infestations the world over.

[old_oak66]

Thanks for the answers so far - I didn't really get a good look at it - and I scanned the bed and there was only one on there. Would have thought that if it was flea larvae there would have been more? I googled House Centipede and it definitely wasn't like that - it was really tiny - 5mm is probably too large - more like 2 or 3 mm. Didn't notice any legs and it definitely had two little prongs like the "back" of a earwig at its head. Sorry I can't be more specific. We do have cats and so I will treat them for fleas, just in case. Neither of them go outside - but it is possible for them to get fleas so they will get the treatment. Thanks once again for your help.

[China Doll]

Sounds like it could be a millipede.... possibly. See link below. Look anything like that? But I think they can actually be fairly long.

http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/forest2/F OLDER01/millipede.jpg

Otherwise it could well be some sort larvaeas Prof says. Maybe a hide beetle.

http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/forest2/F OLDER01/millipede.jpg

Getting any closer to what you saw yet Oak?

[China Doll]

Whoops!!!

http://www.deathonline.net/decomposition/image s/250/hide_larva.jpg


Now if you'll excuse me, the hairs on the back of my neck are raising!

[old_oak66]

Hi there - once again thanks for the answers but it is nothing like any of those pictures. It was really tiny - no hairy body or millions of legs just a tiny black caterpillar. I am beginning to think that it may be flea larvae although looking at pictures of those, it didn't look much like that either. I'm puzzled - also because it was a one-off. Still, those darn cats are going to get treated, just in case. Thanks again.

[theprof]

Can I just check what country your living in old_oak66?

[old_oak66]

I'm in England - North West (near Manchester).

[ll_billym]

Was it one of these:

http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/thezone/insects/instan t/thysan.htm

Funny looking creatures.

[old_oak66]

No, it definitely wasn't a silverfish - a silverfish, strangely enough, is too large. It was tiny and thin like a piece of cotton. I'm horrifically coming around to the fact that it might be flea larvae - eewwwww :-(

[theprof]

Flea larvae might well be described as thin and like a piece of cotton and they fit in with being around 2-3mm in length.

You made a good point about there being only one of them on the bed linen and I'd agree that there ought to have been more. However, you've got to remember that firstly, these blighters spend their time moving about and burrowing into whatever material their born on, secondly, the eggs don't necessarily hatch at the same time (anything between 2 days and 18 days is the norm) and thirdly, the eggs may not have deposited on the bed on the same day.

During their burrowing, the larvae eat organic matter and detritus icluding the faeces of adult fleas (Apologies if your eating!). They also avoid light like the plague and will sometimes "play dead" when disturbed.

Have you noticed any flea eggs around? They're not easy to see as the eggs are fairly translucent but you may find them amongst the adult fleas feacal matter which look like specks of dirt. All the stuff together is often described as looking like someone's shaken a mix of salt and pepper on a surface. The eggs are the "salt".

[theprof]

Where do the cats normally sleep with you?

If they sleep in a basket or one of these new fangled "cat igloo's" like we've got, examine their bedding for the eggs.

[old_oak66]

Now that I have seen one of these things I have been looking out for more and have seen what is probably the faeces too - haven't noticed any eggs but then didn't know what to look for. The cats do sometimes sleep on the bed - something that will now change - because I didn't think they could get fleas being that they don't go outside, but that was obviously a wrong conclusion. I will definitely treat them and their beds to make sure that I get rid of the little pests. I appreciate all the advice and information, it has been very useful. I would never have thought of fleas :-( Thanks again.