What is this bug? How to get rid of them?

[AnyName]

Hello, Sorry if this is not the correct place for this question.

These weird worm bugs with shells are everywhere in our apartment. I am in Bangkok but there is a large swampy area next to us so they may be impossible to stop but at least if I can identify it I may get closer to reducing their presence. They don't do any harm, I just hate looking at them and their dead bodies pile up everywhere.

Thank you for any help

 

[simoh1490]

Cleaning the bathroom may help!

[tifino]

quicky quick! 

 

genus similar?     ... a larvae of this type?

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by tifino

[AnyName]

3 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Cleaning the bathroom may help!

Haha I thought about that when posting this. Yeah, it was taken at a dirty time.

[Spidey]

If you find the shells randomly stuck to the walls, it's probably the larva of a particular kind of moth (forgotten the name). Cleaning/ good hygiene, spraying and prevention of ingress all help. I have had 2 houses in Thailand where this was a problem in kitchen and bathrooms when I moved in. Didn't take long to cure the problem.

[Thian]

I always wondered why the gecko's won't eat them.

[Kerryd]

I try to keep my house pretty clean, don't live near a swamp but often leave the doors/windows open when I'm home.
I spray the crap out of the place whenever I see any ants (or termites) and I'm sure the walls/ceiling must have a thick residue of bug spray on them by now, but every once in awhile I will see one of those little "larvae" sacs stuck to a wall. Usually either high up or behind a piece of furniture.

 

My understanding is that they are the "larvae" of a small moth. It gets into the house, lays it's egg(s) and either flies off or dies (I don't find any dead moths in the house though). The larvae eventually hatch and crawl around with the sac for a while until they mature and then fly off, leaving the sac stuck to the wall somewhere.

Fortunately they rarely seem to be much of a pest (they don't fly in my face or land on my food) and, in my place, the visible larvae sacs are not a frequent occurrence so I usually just knock them off the wall when I'm doing my sweeping and forget about them.

Screens on the windows and doors will help (or just keeping the windows/doors closed more often). Also, like many insects, they are attracted to light so keeping the windows/doors closed when it starts to get dark is a good idea. Otherwise the critters will be attracted by whatever light is coming out of your home.

An exterior light source, located a bit away from the door(s)/window(s) may help as well. Give them a brighter target to congregate around. Or use one of those "blue light" bug zappers off to the side of the window/door. Same idea, give them a light source outside the home to zero in on. The zapper will kill a lot of them but beware, if you have a lot of bugs in your area, the zapper may need to be cleaned frequently (the little wires will get plugged up with the crispy corpses of all the little critters that get electrocuted by the zapper).

 

[themerg]

Is your bathroom near trees or on the edge of the jungle ?

When I see dirt or something that should not be there, it goes down the toilet or the drains.

I spray my bathroom during my shower and also with toilet sprayer.

I use 1-3% bleach and 97-99% water in a bucket on all my floors before I go out, it dries is 20 minutes. I come home and bathroom is clean, sanitary, and dry.

Very little work (10 minutes for 70 square meters), great results and no critters like your friend in your photo and videos. 

The bleach and water cleans the floor and the drains.

Also clean your bathroom, it looks like it's outside.

If you create a habitat, the critters will come.

Countries with most species-- #1-Australia, #2--Indonesia, and #3--Thailand.

This is the tropics, critters multiply faster here than in the USA.

I don't have that problem.

Edited September 9, 2018 by themerg

[rwill]

pretty sure it is a moth larvae.  Like the ones that stick to the wall but hatching out.

 

 

 

[NickJ]

Taken at a dirty time. ......W....?. Don't invite me to dinner, ever.

Edited September 9, 2018 by NickJ

[Old Croc]

Case moth larvae, very common. Harmless.  There's been many threads about them on TVF over the years.

Not a problem, just sweep them up and dispose of them, and eventually you will find very few in your house.

 

[masuk]

On 9/8/2018 at 5:48 PM, Spidey said:

If you find the shells randomly stuck to the walls, it's probably the larva of a particular kind of moth (forgotten the name). Cleaning/ good hygiene, spraying and prevention of ingress all help. I have had 2 houses in Thailand where this was a problem in kitchen and bathrooms when I moved in. Didn't take long to cure the problem.

Case moths.

 

They usually invade gardens and strip the leaves.  I've often wondered if they would get stuck into clothing.

I used a mild spray on them and cleaned them up.  Vacuum cleaner too!

[rebo]

It's only a question of keeping your walls and ceilings as much dust free as possible. These larvae use the common house dust to produce their cocoons. Where they don't find dust they don't reproduce.
Since in our houses the walls and ceilings are regularly vacuumed (about every 2 - 3 months) we got completely rid of them.
What is also helpful is a smooth wall surface.
And you will wonder how much dust you find after the action in your cleaner bag ...

[Skeptic7]

Yes previous posters are correct...Bagworm or Casebearing Moth larvae. There are more than 1000 species worldwide. Metamorphose into something like moth below...

 

 

 

[ELVIS123456]

Get some Geckos - they will eat them up pronto.

 

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, NickJ said:

Taken at a dirty time. ......W....?. Don't invite me to dinner, ever.

Don't worry, I'm sure he won't.

[Thian]

14 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Screens on the windows and doors will help (or just keeping the windows/doors closed more often).

Nope that won't stop them....we have screens which are ALWAYS closed and those insects still appear on the walls...

 

Also screendoors can't stop termites which fly to the light in masses after some rain...they can crawl around the screendoors...i even made brushes there so they can't crawl around them but even that won't stop them...they always can come in but they die very soon and the gecko's eat them.

[Bruce404]

This is a "case-carrying" or "case-bearing" clothes moth larva, of which there are several genus/species around the world, e.g., Tinea pellionella.

See the following undeservedly-panicked Thai Visa URL hotlink from 2012, or use Google to learn about them. 

Some cellophane or packaging tape wrapped sticky-side out on a cloth on the end of a stick is an easy way to pick them off walls, ceilings, and floors and then drop them in the trash. 

Once stuck on the tape they are not going anywhere. 

It's fascinating to see the larva stick its head out from the case and move very slowly along the floor or wall, dragging its case behind it (perhaps 10 cm per hour, but didn't have the patience for that long to verify). 

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by Bruce404
more info

[AnyName]

Thank you all for this information. I do see a lot of dead shells on the ceiling but since we have high (rough textured) ceilings I tend to ignore them. Although I will now get a long stick to reach up there and clean since that is all it takes. Thank you for all the information.

[rebo]

3 hours ago, Bruce404 said:

Some cellophane or packaging tape wrapped sticky-side out on a cloth on the end of a stick is an easy way to pick them off walls, ceilings, and floors and then drop them in the trash. 

Vacuum cleaner seems easier for me ...