Check this link out, in the right collumn you might find your answer.
http://www.happydranch.com/grub.html

Also check these out as well.
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/land_planarians.htm
or
http://www.jojo-zawawi.com/weird-worm-pages/weird-worm.htm
This will show you the shovelhead worm, nasty sort indeed.

Tc

In the larval stage these are voracious decomposers that break down organic matter very quickly. Despite what you might read on the internet, they are not competing with your worms, rather, their fecal matter is an excellent nutrition source for earthworms. The two species are often used together in coordinated manure management systems that allow the larvae to process the raw manure and the earthworms to convert the larvae manure into lovely, stable worm castings.

The churning acvity of the larvae as well as the nature of their manure can increase the moisture level in the bin, but the addition of dry bedding should the bin environment become overly wet easily addresses this challenge.

H. illucens cannot pupate in the bin environment, so after a couple of weeks as hungry larvae they will crawl out of the bin in search of soil or other protected area in which to move to their next life stage. Their mouth parts convert from chewing mandibles to a special digging tool with which they dig themselves a nice little "nest" in which to pupate. Pupation lasts a few weeks after which they emerge as flying adults.

BSF adults are completely benign, spreading no disease and in no way harming plants, people or animals.

The adult is a poor flyer, so is often found resting on walls or the leaves of plants. They have no functioning mouth parts, instead spending their adult lives in search of mates and reproducting (the reason the larvae are so beneficial to waste management is that they must obtain and store sufficient energy in the larval stage to carry them through their entire lifecycle). They are strictly outdoor flies that do not try to enter homes.

We sometimes see decline in worm activity when solder fly larvae populations explode, usually due to increase in moisture, resulting in a corresponding decline in oxygen levels. The worms typically rebound quickly, particularly when excess moisture conditions are corrected.

Kelly S

I'd understood that BSF larva eat earthworms: am I wrong about that?

Thanks,

- Evelyn

Other BSF myths:
1) The larvae are drawn to anaerobic environments.

Soldier fly adults are repelled by anaerobic conditions
and will not intentionally deposit eggs near anaerobic
piles. Larvae can survive anaerobic conditions, but
their activity is decreased compared to the level of
BSF activity in aerobic environments.

2) BSF larvae drive worms from the bin.

No, but massive BSF populations do tend to create more
liquid conditions that can lead to decline in oxygen
levels. It is this drop in O2 that sometimes leads to
worm population decline.

3) Like houseflies, BSF larvae pose a human health risk.

Neither housefly larvae nor BSF larvae risk human
health. Both fly species, in fact, in the larval
stage, are shown to decrease the presence of human
pathogens in infected environments.

4) Environments favorable to BSF larvae will also support
housefly larvae.

BSF larvae communicate chemically with virtually all
other fly species, including fruit flies and
houseflies, letting them know that they will starve them
out if these other species attempt to take up residence.
As a result, a system that has significant numbers of
BSF larvae will support NO other fly species. It is one
of the many reasons we love this larvae for manure
management!

Kelly S

I was worried I had a grub bin and I'd have to dump it and start again. I guess this also explains the scary black fly I found the other day.

My bin was a bit wet before, but I think it is back under control now. It was also rather hot when I first got my worms with a week of 40°C (over 100°F) and I suspect the BSF larvae like the heat. Hopefully wy worms will rebound soon.

Thanks again
Stuart

I am so relieved to ID this creature, which is rampant in my compost at the moment. In the upper layers there are small and medium-sized larvae, at the bottom are the big ones. I have been amazed at its ability to tolerate the heat of my compost pile.

I made a point of creating and sustaining a very hot pile with lots of coffee grounds, to kill any wild onion bulbs. The conditions seem to be ideal for BSF larvae - I've noticed them in my compost before, but not in such huge numbers.

The compost is almost ready for the garden so I am awfully glad the larvae will not harm the plants. I suppose the birds (and maybe some wasps?) will eat some of the larvae when I spread the compost.
-O

Chuckiebtoo

Maggie

Thanks, LeRoy
RE: "Invaders in my worm bin" post

The larvae in my bin have been pupating right in the bin, and I've been picking them out and placing them in dry areas so that there's a chance they will reach the adult stage and start the process over again. I hope the fact that they're pupating in the bin is not a sign that the bin is too dry. I've just assumed that they can't find their way out.

Peter

Thanks for sharing,

Maggie

The way I attract black soldier fly larvae is by putting a layer of coffee grounds on top of my compost pile and then covering it up for a few days. It provides a moist, dark, protected environment. Once you lift the cover off of it, there will be a layer of swarming larvae. I like to scoop them out into a bucket and dump them in my worm bin if I find there's too much food for the worms to process