A Worm in My Bulk?

[slrichman]

After opening a just-arrived bag of bulk Va tobacco, a thin, short white worm appeared on the table right next to the bag. I've never seen such a thing in my house before. So it must have come from you know where.

What should I do?

 

[dmcmtk]

Kill the worm, smoke the tobacco. I you want (and it would be understandable) check the rest of the tobacco. I'd pour it out on a baking sheet in batches and look throught it.

 

[slrichman]

Kill the worm, smoke the tobacco. I you want (and it would be understandable) check the rest of the tobacco. I'd pour it out on a baking sheet in batches and look throught it.

That's what I did. I spread it all out in batches and found nothing unusual whatever. So it's okay?

 

[seldom]

As a bug nerd I would be interested in seeing a photo of the worm.

 

[slrichman]

As a bug nerd I would be interested in seeing a photo of the worm.

Me too. Frankly, I was so startled -- I'd never seen such a thing before in my house -- that I just grabbed a tissue, balled it up, and threw it away. I kick myself for that. It was a half-inch long, white, and thin. Come to think of it, my first thought was "caterpillar" because it seemed to have sections. It was moving.

 

[slrichman]

On a tip from a FB pipe friend, I Googled Indian meal moth larvae. That's what it looks like. If so, it's probably not the tobacco.

 

[slrichman]

Indian meal moth larvae. That's what mine looked like.

 

[seldom]

Ah ha. Might be tobacco beetle grubs in that case.

 

[slrichman]

Ah ha. Might be tobacco beetle grubs in that case.
View attachment 3527

So does that mean I should toss the tobacco?

That is shaped differently from what I saw, not as long and it is plumper.

 

[trouttimes]

Protein with your smoke. Add coffee and you have a complete meal! ?

 

[seldom]

Just a week or two back there was a thread about this. Here it is: Insects in my pipe tobacco :: Pipe Talk - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/insects-in-my-pipe-tobacco.71700/
I'd not get rid of the tobacco.

 

[perdurabo]

I discovered a worm in some Black sesame seeds the other day. The little guy looked something similar to the pics above.

 

[brian64]

I immediately thought of this upon seeing the thread's title:

 

[mso489]

Interesting. I don't think a worm would have made it through the processing heat and pressure, so maybe it got dusted into the blend from some green tobacco. Now that you've inspected the rest of the blend, I think it's okay to smoke. We eat critters, alive and not, all the time. It's good to avoid 'em, but some contact is inevitable. The insane extreme on this is the exterminator services that promise to eliminate bugs (i.e. everything living) in your yard. If people are that neurotic about ecology, they should live in the desert. Farm kids have the natural advantage of having grown up in active ecologies; they accept bugs/spiders/salamanders etc. as part of the deal. In life. In general, their immunities are wide and their allergies are much fewer. As spoken by an admiring suburban kid.

 

[rmpeeps]

Lay newspapers out across the floor, spread all your various tobaccos on it in labeled piles, and set off 2 or 3 bug bombs.
Go to the theater and see a movie.
Come back, jar everything up, and you’re set.
No more worms.

 

[sablebrush52]

Lay newspapers out across the floor, spread all your various tobaccos on it in labeled piles, and set off 2 or 3 bug bombs.
Go to the theater and see a movie.
Come back, jar everything up, and you’re set.
No more worms.

And as an added plus, your tobacco will have a new and unique topping!

 

[brian64]

And as an added plus, your tobacco will have a new and unique topping!

 

[greeneyes]

Your tobacco, "pure" Virginia though it might be, has undergone various industrial processes, including chopping, heating-drying, and tumbling, that a delicate larval insect wouldn't likely survive. My guess is that your grub hitchhiked outside, not inside your tobacco.

 

[cortezattic]

It's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature.

 

[anotherbob]

Farm kids have the natural advantage of having grown up in active ecologies; they accept bugs/spiders/salamanders etc. as part of the deal.

I work with a lady you should meet. She's insane and grew up on a farm still lives on a farm and is a janitor slash germophobe and makes little girls look like a spiders biggest fan. Just had to say that cause, I am still trying to figure that stuff out.