scaley worm insects inside my compost tumbler?

[buddy110]

I have a 30 bushel compost tumbler which I have been using. When I went to check it, I noticed a bunch of scaly worm type insects inside, presumably eating the rotting vegetation. I've never seen this before. Does anyone have an idea what these are?

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'm guessing, Black Soldier fly larva.

Eric

[buddy110]

What does anyone suggest I do? I don't need more flies

[rainbowgardener]

Yup, that was going to be my suggestion too, BSF larvae. I don't think you need to do anything. The larvae are part of the decomposition process. As long as your composter is outside, not in your house, the flies will not be a problem and you won't notice them. The adult flies only live about a week.

https://esrint.com/pages/bioconversion.html

[tomc]

What does anyone suggest I do? I don't need more flies

Move your compost tumbler out doors.

Or, stop eating altogether.

Biological activity of decomposition and renewal is going to take place no matter how we feel about it.

We can clean up after entropy, but its never going to go away.

[buddy110]

It's outdoors. I've been tumbling for years. Just never saw this before..

[rainbowgardener]

They like moisture, so perhaps your materials are wetter than usual?

But maybe you just never noticed them; they are pretty ubiquitous in rotting materials. One year I did an indoor worm bin and it got BSF larvae in it, which I wasn't too excited about inside. I have no idea where they came from, the eggs must have been on something I put in (like leaves for bedding/ food).

[toxcrusadr]

BSF are not like the typical house flies, BTW, so this does not mean you'll see a cloud of flies around your bin.