The Bottom Line
Those creepy little white “worms” in your trash probably aren’t worms at all.
They’re most likely maggots—the larvae of flies.
They appear when flies find suitable organic waste, lay eggs, and those eggs hatch into larvae. Warm weather, moisture, food residue, and uncovered garbage can make the process happen surprisingly quickly.
The solution is straightforward:
Remove the infested waste, clean the trash can thoroughly, let it dry, and keep future food waste tightly sealed.
And if you suddenly discover a whole colony crawling around your garbage, remember: as unpleasant as it looks, you’ve most likely just caught a very ordinary part of the fly life cycle happening in an unfortunate location.
