Look up soldier fly larvae and compare with what you've been seeing. They are quite common in compost piles.

Many compost piles that are too wet often do have the larva of the Black Soldier Fly. Since the adult BSF does nothing in its short life (about 30 days) except look for a mate and mate to produce more eggs that hatch into the larva that become the adults. and since the larva of the BSF really does not contribute anything to the composting process, even though they do help eliminate large piles of manure, the presence of BSF larva in a compost pile is really undesireable. Some of those that once championed BSF larva confused the adult Black Solder Fly with the Black Soldier Beetle which is a predator of many insect pests. Since in many parts of the world flies of any kind are transmitters of many diease pathogens, their presence, in any form, should be discouraged.
However, from the description that did not sound like the larva of a Black Soldier Fly, and since most all insect larvva need a fairly moist environment to hatch, live, and grow the presence of whatever it is may indicate your compost is too wet.

So what is undesirable about BSF maggots in the compost?
My compost piles are *not* too wet and I do regularly get BSF maggots in large numbers. There are times if I throw a canteloupe rind or a finished corn cob into the compost and the BSF maggots swarm it by the hundreds. I figure they're just helping break things down. What's the problem?

kimmsr, I'm a newbie to composting and am now a bit confused about the role of the black soldier fly. After in this forum echoing what you've said above...but then, on the vermicomposting forum, gotten quite a different viewpoint. (See link; in particular the postings by Kelly Slocum). I don't know much about vermicomposting-- is there a reason why BSFs would be beneficial to vermicomposters, but bad for the rest of us? Just trying to understand. Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black soldier fly discussion on vermicomposting forum

Sorry Kimmsr,

I have black soldier fly larvae in my piles and my piles compost perfectly. They are definitely not too wet.

One thing to remember is that a compost pile is not homogeneous. There are wetter spots and drier spots. And that's good.

Whoops, just realized I had a typo in my post above. The second sentence should read, "After reading a few posts in this forum echoing what you've said above..."

BSF larvae are a godsend, they are everything BUT pests and a nuisance. They repel houseflies, they eat trash like it's nobody's business, their adult form is a slow flyer, lacks a mouth, and doesn't spread diseases, they are practically invincible, and they make great pet food. Not to mention their crap is fliet mignon for earthworms

BSF larvae are a godsend, they are everything BUT pests and a nuisance. They repel houseflies, they eat trash like it's nobody's business, their adult form is a slow flyer, lacks a mouth, and doesn't spread diseases, they are practically invincible, and they make great pet food. Not to mention their crap is fiLet mignon for earthworms.

+1

The larva of the Black Soldier Fly will only exist in a compost pile that is too moist, the same conditions that any other fly larva needs to hatch and grow. That too moist condition can keep your compost pile from reaching the temperatures compsot piles often do reach which are simply too hot for those fly larva to live in, anything much over 100 degrees. The larva of the Black Soldier fly can range in color from a dark brown through a creamy white, a color similar to any other fly so it can be difficult to know which you have.
North Carolina State University people will tell you that these fly larva will only grow in a too moist compost pile and the people at North Dakota State will tell you the presence of these fly larva in your compost is a sign of poor manangement. The people at NCSU will also tell you that the Black Soldier Fly larva can be useful in digesting manure.
These fly larva are not significant composters and the only place you will find them active is on the surface, and when you turn your compost and bury them they will die and if your compost pile reaches temperatures in excess of 100 degrees they will die. Since the only time I have seen any fly maggots in my compost is when it was too cool and moist I cannot believe they are anything worthwhile in any compost pile, and since they really contribute little to the environment, except to digest manure, they are of little to no benefit in the compost pile.

When did you develop your fly phobia, kimmsr? lol

kimmsr, would you care to post a link to the actual articles from NCSU or NDU you claim they say so we can read their assertations ourselves?

It has been demonstrated several times in the past that pronouncements of what other organizations say have been wildly embellished or taken totally out of context by some contributors of this forum in the past.

OSU seems to think the flies aren't all that bad and seem to be running some experiments involving them.

Thanks

Lloyd

I've seen 'em in my piles which regularly go over 140. Same as the plethora of worms in my pile, I'm sure when it gets turned they make their way to the outside where it's more suitable to their needs.

When I move back west I'd like to take some w/ me for the outhouse at the family cabin.

kimmsr commonly spouts off misinformation about BSF larvae. And then forum members who have no experience with BSF larvae repeat the same misinformation.

BSF larvae are beneficial compost organisms.
BSF larvae are not an indication of pile moisture.

Ah well. Gallileo was forbidden to talk about the fact that the earth revolved around the sun in the 1400's (I think it was) and finally in 1996 those people (or their successors) finally admitted he was right. You skeptics will ne day get there, too.

Usually I just read the posts on this forum, and even that's exhausting...
But kimmsr; are you really comparing yourself to Galileo? Sure various groups have historically denied that the earth could possibly not be the centre of the universe; but seriously, where did you get 1996 from? The Flat Earth Society doesn't count.

Too funny!

Lloyd

P.S. Sorry to OP for 'jacking his thread.

kimmsr, you can talk about BSF larvae all you want. It just makes you appear like you know nothing about them when you do.

We are not banning you from posting.... post away.

Just expect to be corrected when you post misinformation.

JPW, there aren't enough hours in the day! LOL

Lloyd

I was off by 4 years, but this is from the Wikipedia article on Galileo, "On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.[108][109]"

Please don't pick on kimmsr too hard. He's one of my favorite forumers.
You've got to love his persistence, don't you? And his thick skin?

***sigh***

"I was off by 4 years"...

and by over a hundred on the other side, Galileo wasn't even alive in the 1400's and he was just confirming what Copernicus already figured out. Hint, maybe do the research before you type, makes you look dotty. Took me 5 minutes to find this out on Wiki.

Lloyd

Do you think the pope will be issuing an official Roman Catholic Church position on BSF larvae in the compost pile?

It's the least he could do.

The last time I fell for this, I had a loooong visit with Micky.

Wow, I didn't mean to open up a can of larvae!

I looked up BSF larvae and what I have looks very much like the pictures I found. Since I'm too lazy to research the beneficence or harm of said bug, let alone remove them, water the CP more, or turn it more often, I think I'll just let the BSF larvae do whatever it is BSF larvae do.

Thanks for the info.

Annpat, who's Micky?

I just got back from a long visit to Mickey or I'd have jumped in to bash BSFL sooner. BASH, I say! Kim has a few facts wrong, 'tis true, but in the main I must agree BSFL are the bain of my compost pile. I just can't believe people don't uniformly hate the buggers for their speedy destruction of a healthy compost pile.

Why do I hate them, you ask? Is it because I discovered 1000+ under my wool living room rug the summer after my Christmas puppy peed everywhere? Maybe that's a factor, but By Gum I'm an open minded composter.

I hate them because they quickly liquify every bit of green material in a pile, without digesting the brown even a tiny bit. My lovely, airy, hot, earthy pile, teaming with beneficial bacteria quickly sinks down to cold solid anaerobic barnyard stinking goo. I struggle to turn it every day to try and get air around, because the grasses and stems are all fully intact stringy fork clogging SOB's. I spread it all out six inches thick for days. I pile it back up. I go to Disney for eight days. I come back again to cold solid anaerobic barnyard stinking goo again.

All the larvae are gone, taking exactly their weight of nitrogen with them, far away from my garden. But not far enough away for me.

I have tried dry piles, turning every three days to incorporate laid eggs, brown heavy piles, running piles at 150 degrees, all to no avail. If I've got a pile moist and green enough to heat, it WILL have BSFL in it by mid June and through to the end of July. I hate them.

On the bright side, on the way home I picked up several baskets of really divine tree ripe peaches from Lane orchards in GA and had a lovely day walking around the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I listened attentively to a sweet volunteer lady explain exactly the organic regimen they use to grow the rose garden. She showed me her display of baking soda, Epsom salt, and alfalfa pellets and grinned the sweetest, elderly lady rose enthusiast grin I guess I've ever seen.

I spared her my greensand lecture, since I wasn't volunteering and she was.

I guess my primary concern is that all the "trash" and scraps I dump into the compost pile disappears...not exactly whether the BSFL take off my "my nitrogen" or not. As long as the nitrogen goes back into the ecosystem rather into our streams. Plus, as I see it, they usually eat high protein, high carb wastes within the compost pile, so I feel that without them, your pile would pretty much be stinky to high hell. The adults are attracted to "well balanced" compost piles as much as they attracted to compost piles with too much greens in one spot.

Yup, Takadi, for pure food/waste disposal BSFL are unbeatable little blobs of miracle. They don't do any harm to people, and the larval pheromones repel housefly maggots from setting up shop in undisturbed piles. BSF adults don't carry disease, being weak fliers for their brief week of non-eating existence.

The larvae aren't ALL bad. The differences in opinion are not always confusion over BSFL. It's different compost goals. They are a temporary annoyance to me because I'm a suburban hobbyist composter, and I'm after a particular compost to boost the micro-life in my beds. My compost pile isn't a garbage disposal pile (although I'm happy that it does work as one.) It's a garden amendment pile.