I opened my composter today right after turning it and these things were burying themselves back down into the compost - what are they? I pulled one out and tried to get a decent photo. And if they are bad what do I do about them in my composter with my good compost? Thanks!
looks like a pillbug or rolypoly. sections with a pair of legs on each?
They are supposed to be there.
They feed on decaying matter.
As the compost finishes off they will move on.
In ours they get replaced by earthworms.
Ric
Thank you - I just had never noticed them before and it worried me! I feel much better now. Michelle
henry10 is correct. Those are supposed to be there. They are soldier fly larvae (family Stratiomyidae).
In my "compost pile" (mine is pretty informal), the soldier fly larvae show up when the pille is very wet. They prefer a wet environment. When the pile is not so wet, the earthworms dominate instead.
The soldier fly larvae don't harm the earthworms at all.
Don't be surprised to see many critters in there.
Millipedes will pop up startling you w/ their looks.
Praying Mantis love our bins.
They hang out and pick off the bugs outside.
Spiders will pick off the fliers.
Earthworms and NIghtcrawlers magically appear as stated above.
We sift our compost before using culling out dozens.
Most go back in the bin but we always add a few to each bag of finished compost.
Another benifit we noticed this year was moles.
Not that we want them but the worms and grubs attract them.
So it's easier to get rid of the moles if they're in one spot. lol
Ric
