what are they??

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niknik
Living the good life
Living the good life
Posts: 434
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 3:50 pm
Location: Spain

what are they??

Post: # 233124Post niknik »

No photos possible I´m afraid.
Decided to remove some of the weeds from the bin they´re soaking in, in order to make space for more....

amzing how they rot down nearly completely.

Anyway, in said bin, I discovered hundreds , of insecty larvae or whatever swimming around, average length is appx 2cm
with a thin tail about the same length.
look a bit like a maggot, but not so solid, off white with a pinkish tinge. dont survive long out of the water ( 10 mins or so in the sun).
some were in large clusters, all "knotted" together. They seem to possibly have some small legs on one side ( hard to tell and cant find the enlarging thingy. ) whats itcalled in English? cant remember - lupa in Sp, loupe in French), but they don´t "walk" they move ( quite fast) but wriggling the internal rings of their bodies...ifthat makes sense.

what can they be? Should I be worried, need to destroy them?...

Mind you whateverthey are, the chickens loved them!. So far Ive fished out about 2 cupfuls.

willp
margo - newbie
margo - newbie
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Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:18 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: what are they??

Post: # 233133Post willp »

Rat tailed maggots?

Common in poorly oxygenated water afaik

Wiki page here - don`t read the bit about "infection" if at all squeamish

Will

willp
margo - newbie
margo - newbie
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Location: Milton Keynes

Re: what are they??

Post: # 233134Post willp »


niknik
Living the good life
Living the good life
Posts: 434
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 3:50 pm
Location: Spain

Re: what are they??

Post: # 233135Post niknik »

that certainly seems to be the ones!

Strangely enough, for some reason, they made me think of new born mice, because of their appearance!, and they are sometimes called "mousies" .

There are loads of aphids baout, so ill have to see if thse arvae will survive out of the water, if I try and placethen near/ on the most affected plants!

Thanks Will. I doubt I´everhave found the answer by myself!

Strangely though, never had any last year, even though I had my buckets of rotting weeds for fertilizer........

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