Black Soldier Fly... or?

Hi everyone,
I can't keep my fingers out of the my new worm farm. I feel rather attached to those wigglers and was really happy to see some fat worms in the tub. They have grown heaps in the week they've been in and there are some babies there as well 8).

But... I also found some maggots in there. The first lot... as I panicked a bit... was picked out and fed to the chooks... they loved it, but then I got to think, what if they are BSF larvae? On closer inspection they looked nothing like the common fly larvae. So the second lot I found I picked out and took a photo of. Can anyone identify what fly these larvae/maggots belong to? :think:

View attachment 1447

PS: I did a search on the net and now I am more confused then ever . Found some pictures of maggots looking like these, but... they didn't say what fly ... just that they were fly maggots. Hmmm :think:

 

Looks more like a hover fly larvae to me.

I don't worry too much about various insects in the worm farm. You can always adjust what you are doing though if you think it is a problem. How is the wet/dry balance? Are you putting in meat or dairy? What kind of carbon material are you using? that sort of thing.

 

You might need an entomological expert for that question
A museum nearby?
https://www.microponics.net.au/?p=175

 

Not BSF, too small for house fly. What's the life cycle of a horse fly, or a bigger fly?

 

Its too white and see through fro a soldier fly

 

SOP, they are bigger then any house fly larvae I have seen before, that's why I got curious. Also I've never seen a 'head' on a house fly larvae before.

 

That was a failure in my English or my phone. I meant house fly larvae are smaller.

Horse fly are also a larger fly, without googling life cycle, could they have been present in the manure?

 

We had a few horse flies last season, but I did google horse fly larvae and they look nothing like this one.

Maybe I just have to wait and see what comes out of the worm farm. :lol:

The worm farm is soley horse manure and only 2 weeks old. Worms were introduced last week. I suppose it could be botfly. They were really bad this year.

PS.: Nope... not botfly... just checked that.

 

A good worm farm has all sorts of bugs in it. A few maggots here and there are not a problem but they are horrible to touch. Just flick them out if you are concerned. When the weather warms up I get a few maggots that come with the manure but they just go into the pond for the turtle.

In about 2 weeks look on and just under the surface of the bedding for small grape seed like eggs. This will confirm your worms have settled in and are down to business.

 

I must be a weird one... I don't mind touching worms or maggots. I picked them out one by one and the chookies just went wild when I tossed the maggots to them

Not worried... just hopeful. I wouldn't mind a few BSFL in the bin

 

Do they look like little brownish 'bubbles'? If yes... those worms a down to business... hehehe

 

BSF have started to appear in mine so the weather is warm enough now.

 

They could be the ones I sent you in the tub. New eggs are light green and turn yellowish over time then brown just prior to hatching on the 21st day after being layed.

 

Hmm... maybe. Cooool

Although they were in a different spot to where I emptied the tub out.

 

Crossing my fingers and hope I am lucky enough to have BSF visit my manure heap ... ehem ... worm farm.

 

I wouldn't have thought they would be brown that fast but then I don't sit and watch them lol. You will see lots of green ones from now on as each mature worm will lay one egg every 7 days.

 

What is so good about BSF?

 

Just another worker to help me get rid of all that horse manure.

3 horses x 7kg each day equals lots of poo... I need all the help I can get to turn it into compost asap.

 

I'd do some research into that. Whether or not they will eat poo.

Mine only like the kitchen waste. If I don't macerate it, they love it even more and push the worms out. As it is now, frozen and processed, they share with the worms.

 

Hi SOP,
apparently they will work manure, including horse manure. So here is hoping. We feed all our vegetable scraps to the chooks and meat scraps the dogs get... so horse manure (and the occasional dog poo) is all that the worm farm will have.

https://blacksoldierflyblog.com/black-soldier-fly-white-magic/#7

I picked out a few more maggots today... gees the chooks go crazy over them.