Whats this funny insect in with my crickets ?

Whats this funny little caterpillar in with my crickets?

We hear this question fairly often so we thought we had better award this interesting little critter its own little guide!

This little insect is often described to us as..

"A furry caterpillar", "centipede", "caterpillar", "Worm", "Grub", "parasite", "Maggot" plus many more.

They are neither of these things, they are in fact the larvae of a beetle. These beetles eat dead insects.  they do multiply quite quickly and its quite common for the larvae to stow away into livefoods tubs.

They are edible for reptiles and amphibians, in fact there rapid and jerky movement can actually be used to stimulate poor feeding hatchlings to eat. However they are not nutritous so are not sold as a feeder insect.  

So in short they are harmless and nothing to worry about.