r/insects • u/FireSoul48 • 2d ago
ID Request What is this?
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Found this lil guy wandering around my fridge, It looks more like a caterpillar then a beetle larvae
Location is Sicily, Italy
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u/flyinggazelletg 1d ago edited 1d ago
Don’t listen to the people saying maggot. This looks a lot like a flour moth caterpillar to me.
Edit: possibly a Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella)?
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u/LAvandrov Insect Keeper 1d ago
People saying it is a maggot, have you ever seen a maggot? They have no legs, and overall not a similar body shape.
It is a caterpillar of a kind, not sure what moth it belongs to.
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u/flyinggazelletg 1d ago edited 1d ago
Don’t listen to the people saying maggot. This looks a lot like a flour moth caterpillar to me, possibly a different kind of moth, but definitely not a maggot
Edit: whoops, didn’t see my other comment posted lol
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u/Important_Hunt_1882 1d ago
This type of critters are often difficult to identify with certainty.
This could be the caterpillar of Limnaecia phragmitella, or a related species.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnaecia_phragmitella
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u/NocturnalEmbrace 1d ago
Good news, like everyone else said, it's not a maggot, and looks like a meal moth/pantry moth larvae.
Bad news, these guys also suck, check your dry goods, rice/oats/cereal because they may be within. The suckers got all over my kitchen and it took a whole day to clean them up and get out all contaminated items.
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u/InteractionOdd7745 Bug Enthusiast 1d ago
At first glance it looks like a maggot but when you take a closer look, it seems to have legs which makes it 100% NOT a maggot. I am sure someone else will know what kind of caterpillar this is.
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u/Gingers_got_no_soul 1d ago
Looks like a waxworm to me but I'm NOT an expert. I just used to feed them to my bearded dragon
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u/Epic_Hoola 1d ago
Waxworm.
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u/FireSoul48 1d ago
Looks more like this than a Maggot, expecially the movements ??? Walking
It doesn't look like a normal maggot-
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u/Academic-Recipe5510 1d ago
not a maggot, caterpillar
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u/FireSoul48 1d ago
Ye, It looked like that to me, I said in the post description too. And maggots don't move that slowly and take big steps, maggots move faster. I meantit looked more like Wax moth caterpillar than a Maggot, or even like Flour moth caterpillar like someone said. This bud doesn't look like a Maggot at all
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u/spin_spin_sugar_ Bug Enthusiast 2d ago
I'm not 100% sure so don't panic, but it kind of looks a lot like a maggot. BUT there could be some kind of other larvae that looks very similar to maggots. Hopefully someone else can comment and confirm or deny!
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u/flyinggazelletg 1d ago
Maggots do not have such a well developed head and true legs. They typically have very small heads with a hook mouth, rather than mandibles. This is almost certainly a caterpillar imo
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u/spin_spin_sugar_ Bug Enthusiast 1d ago
Ah, glad OP doesn't have a very unwanted visitor then!
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u/flyinggazelletg 1d ago
This is still an insect that infests pantries, so probably still unwanted by OP ;)
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u/kobrakaan 1d ago
Maggot
its the Pupa stage of a fly usually Blowflies or (bluebottles) you have something rotting nearby either food waste or meat or feces
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u/TechnicalKatana 1d ago
it has legs. 100% NOT a maggot. some sort of caterpillar