this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
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What is this thing?

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They seem to spin some kind of silk everywhere they go. They seem to be no longer than about 4 mm. I noticed them crawling up things and then dropping down on a line of silk. I've started catching them by putting little sticks up in the air attached everywhere that I find them. They tend to gather at the top of the stick for easy rapture by vacuum.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

It's a larva of the Laugher moth, they are spinning the silk so they can go from their caterpillar form into their moth form.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Probably some sort of caterpillar.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I agree. I think we need better pictures to determine!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

My first thought is that it looks like a house centipede. Not sure about if they can make silk though. They hunt other bugs in your house.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

That was my first thought too but they don't look like the larvae of how centipede since those usually have some longer hairs at the front and back.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

I think we always called them "thousand leggers" but I don't remember any silk or webbing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

They look kind of like house centipedes but they don't look like house centipede larvae. They don't have the long hairs just all their hairs are the same length.

Also the silk is not something I have heard of the house centipedes doing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Looking closer, maybe it's a hunting mohican(sic) terrible name but cool bug.