Meal worm like bugs in compost pile

[Brent]

Howdy,

When I turned my compost pile the other day I noticed a lot of nasty meal worm looking things wiggling around (not the white grubs I see in the garden sometimes). I am hoping someone knows what they are and can reassure me that they are not going to grow up into some nasty giant insect that will invade my house, yard, or garden. The compost pile is a 55 gal drum missing both ends. When I want to mix the compost, I just lift it up, move the drum, and refill. All I add to the compost is plant matter. This is in AZ. Thanks!

 

[Chuck]

Howdy,

When I turned my compost pile the other day I noticed a lot of nasty meal worm looking things wiggling around (not the white grubs I see in the garden sometimes). I am hoping someone knows what they are and can reassure me that they are not going to grow up into some nasty giant insect that will invade my house, yard, or garden. The compost pile is a 55 gal drum missing both ends. When I want to mix the compost, I just lift it up, move the drum, and refill. All I add to the compost is plant matter. This is in AZ. Thanks!

Instead of a nasty meal worm looking thing can you give a little bit of info on what the thing actually looks like. A pic would be nice too. Being in a compost bin I would hazard a guess that what you are seeing is the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly, a most useful and beneficial insect but without any other description it might well be newly hatched crocodiles

 

[Brent]

Chuck,

I searched images on google of black soldier fly larve and unhatched crocodiles. I am going to take a closer look tomorrow, but I am pretty certain what I have is the black soldier flys.I even noticed an adult specimen (assumed it was some kind of wasp at the time) on the screen door this morning. They are very disgusting looking, but I can tolerate them knowing they are a benefit to the compost. This also explains why my compost is breaking down in record time compared to past experiences. Thanks for your help!

Here is what I found:

From: http://livingsanibel.org/2014/03/24/black-soldier-fly-composting/

The solitary black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is a beneficial and useful garden insect. It is rarely seen and often mistaken for a black wasp. The black soldier fly is harmless. It has neither a stinger or a mouth. It’s short adult life is spent breeding and laying eggs. The larvae of Black Soldier Flies (BSFL) are detritivores, useful in household garden composting. The larvae work organic waste material faster than worms used in vermicomposting. A colony of 2000 larvae can consume about 2.2 lbs of household food waste per day. As detritivores, BSFL break down both rotting plant and animal matter, giving the home gardener the ability to add meat scraps to their compost.

 

[Scarlet]

People purchase black soldier fly larvae as food for their pets and to speed up composting.
Sounds like you may have fallen into a new hobby!

Ours are usually gone pretty fast as larvae is like chocolate to birds.