GROSS! There are bugs in my compost!

sitenum=205

Seasonal observations of the UCCE Master Gardeners

Author: Pamela Allen

Published on: August 6, 2015

Last week I walked out to my compost bins with the bucket of kitchen waste in hand. I twisted off the top, picked up the bucket, prepared to dump it in and then screamed EEEEEEKKK! What is THAT?

Compost and Layla. (photos by Pam Allen)

My compost was undulating with movement and sound, crunching and squishing and just EEWWWWW! I set down the kitchen scraps, ran into the house, turned on my computer and typed “Bugs in my compost”. Turns out there is no reason to worry, some people actually pay for the bugs that I got for free! With a little help from the Compost Santa Cruz County website, I determined my compost bins have been absolutely invaded by Hermetia illucens, black soldier fly larvae.

Black soldier fly larvae.

Black soldier flies are not harmful to humans. They do not bite or sting. They are not a vector for human disease. They are remarkably efficient consumers of kitchen waste. The adult fly only survives a few days, however the larvae can live for several weeks all the while consuming huge amounts of food waste. The castings can be used to amend the soil and my chicken flock enjoys any larvae that stray too far from the safety of the bin. They can be purchased from BioGrubs on Amazon.com. By my calculation, I have about $35 worth of larvae in my bin for free! I am over the gross out and now enjoy watching my little guys do their work. If you are interested, you can watch the video of my invasion on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjKJzhPxOsQ. My husband says he won't begin to worry about me unless I begin to give them names!

I continue to add green waste to my bin in the hopes that I can encourage the colonization to last as long as possible!

References

compostsantacruzcounty.org/PDF/Critters.pdf

amazon.com/BioGrubs-Soldier-Larvae-Voracious-Composters/dp/B00HG7BR3Y

blacksoldierflyblog.com/bsf-basics/

Comments: 3

Comments:

by Libbey McKendry

on August 7, 2015 at 10:47 AM

Very helpful information. I sometimes see this larva in my compost. I thought they were house fly larva and I was not happy about it. Yuck! I wonder how to tell the difference.

by Andrea

on August 8, 2015 at 8:24 AM

Yes, it was disturbing at first to see a wriggling mass in the compost bin, especially when my brother exclaimed loudly enough for the neighbors to hear: "Ewww! Maggots!" Sigh. I am very grateful for my hardworking compost critters, including the black soldier fly larvae.

by Steven Goetz

on August 8, 2015 at 9:37 AM

Thanks for this post. I got these grubs in my worm box many years ago and threw out the box because I didn't know whether the grubs were harming the beneficial worms. I get these in my compost pile and pick them out when I screen the compost for use. Now I will leave them alone.