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Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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Posted by
vermontkingdom 4a (
My Page) on
Fri, Jan 28, 11 at 7:45
| It's brutally cold in Vermont and for some reason I decided to chip/shred the oldest of my compost. I normally do this in May and it often clogs my machine because the compost is moist. So, I decided to chip it now while it is frozen and spread the resultant beautiful fine grained compost on some of my snow covered raised beds and raspberry patch. Everything was going fine until I reached the center of the 4 x 4 x 5 pile. On the outside, I broke off pieces of compost and fed these broken pieces to my large chipper. In the middle I discovered the compost wasn't frozen yet. (It was 25 below last weekend and January has been very cold and snowy so I surprised.) In this unfrozen moist part of my compost bin were large numbers of green caterpillar worms. They are undoubtedly good guys breaking down more of the compost so I'm not concerned but just interested in finding out who they are. I've been unsuccessful researching them on my own and know other oldtime composters must have already gone down this road. Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| We need a picture for an accurate identification. |
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| pics plzzzzzzzzzzzzz----but i gotta believe they be good for yer compost---JB |
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| Contrary to what many people think having any larva you can see working in your compost most likely is not a good thing. These larger consumers of decaying vegetative waste may reduce what you have but they do not convert it into the good stuff that the bacteria that work in compost piles will. |
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| "It's brutally cold in Vermont"....Black soldier fly larvae wearing little green sweaters ??? |
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| I think green caterpillar poo will be as beneficial to a pile as horse poo or cow poo, which are common compost ingredients. In fact bug poo might even be better because of its size. There are so many insects, and many types of green caterpillars its hard to do an ID without a picture. They were eating the wood part of the pile? That is probably a clue to their identity. You may want to try a search for wood eating green larvae . |
RE: Large green caterpillar type larvae in compost
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| I am coming at this from a position of complete ignorance about US caterpillars. But I would have thought if they were green they were probably leaf/vegetation eaters rather than compost/earth dwellers. Most soil dwelling/decay enjoying larvae I have come across are white/beige/brown. Many leaf dwelling larvae, like cabbage butterfly caterpillars, are green for camouflage. So I am puzzled by green larvae in your compost. Could they have gone in on some vegetation and somehow survived? Just musing. |
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