4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Aga n Chickens]

I was intending to use some of the Comfrey liquid that I had been brewing in a bucket behind the shed. I expected to find the usual mozzys wiggling about but swimming around with them I saw....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to get a good photo but the reflections kept getting in the way, and the smell from the bucket was a bit off putting.

 

They look a bit like maggots, but can swim well with a flick of the stringy tail they have

 

The largest ones are about an inch for the body and the same again for the tail. Loads of smaller ones can be seen rising to the surface and diving back down into the swampy water.

 

Anyone any ideas, as I've never seen anything like this

 

Christine

[keyhole kate]

Not a clue but

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Yuck . Tasty tea for the girls (if you can bear it )?

[Happy chickens!]

Think they are rat-tailed maggots - larvae of hoverflies.

 

See here: http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/insects-and-invertebrates/2946-rat-tailed-maggot-eristalis.html

 

Think you'd have heard the scream if I'd come across them, don't like wriggly things much.

[Aga n Chickens]

Many thanks Happy Chickens

 

If they are the young hover flies I'll hang on to them as they might be beneficial to the garden by keeping pests at bay.

 

I'll try and be brave and see if they do try and 'walk' around the bucket, as so far I've only seen them swimming.

 

They gave me quite a shock at first, and I was thinking that if they got any bigger I could offer them to Ant and Dec as a change to their Bush Tucker Challenge.

 

Kind regards,

 

Christine

[The Dogmother]

They look like rat-tailed to me too - feed them to the chooks

[Valkyrie]

I have had them before - I thought it was something that had come from the compost originally. So they are hoverflies. I loves the hovers, they keep the pests down. So I won't be bumping them off now. Thanks.

[chooklady]

Hover flies are so good for the garden, they keep the bugs at bay. Hover flies are rather partial to dill. I've been planting pots of dill to encourage the hovers.

[Valkyrie]

Found 'em again in the tomato and aubergine drip trays - said "hello" to them.