Maggots

Summary: Maggots come in all shapes and sizes. It takes an expert to properly identify which adult insect to associate with a maggot, but identification is key to getting control.

A reader asks: I have tiny, beige, squiggly bugs in my kitchen.  "Vermicelli" looking is the best way to describe the size and shape; and they wiggle.  What could they be?

Dear Reader: You did say "tiny" so I will assume you are describing color when you say they look like Vermicelli and that they are not nine inches long. Maggots are 3 to 9 mm long and typically creamy white. Their bodies are cylindrical and taper toward the head. What you are describing could be fly maggots and these tiny larvae can find their way into homes via numerous paths.

Normally, adult flies will locate damp accumulations of food matter in which to

lay their eggs. We often find maggots in the cracks of door thresholds where mud from shoes accumulates. If housekeeping falls behind flies can lay eggs in the moist grease that builds up along sides, backs and bottoms of kitchen stoves.

If this matches up with what you are describing, good sanitation is the basic step in any fly management program. Food and materials on which the flies can lay eggs must be eliminated or at least protected from egg-laying adult flies. Since most fly species can complete their life cycles in as little as seven days, removal of wet matter is necessary to break the breeding cycle.

Killing adult flies may reduce the infestation, but elimination of breeding areas is necessary for good fly management. Garbage cans and dumpsters should have tight-fitting lids and be cleaned regularly. Dry garbage and trash should be placed in plastic garbage bags and sealed up. All garbage receptacles should be located as far from exterior doorways as possible.