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Grey wriggly things

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    Posted: 09 Nov 2004 at 5:12pm

Hi all,

I hope someone can give me a slightly more accurate name for some grey wriggly things I observed under logs today.

They were approx. 1/2 inch long, grey and something like thin maggots. I would have thought they were just fly larva but there was no sign of rotting animal matter, just the rotting logs. They were in groups of several hundred and very active when disturbed.

Any ideas of what they may be appreciated.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Danny13 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2004 at 7:53pm

Hi i dont know much about insects but its probably just some sort of maggot or larva. Mabey there was a carcus there which has since been consumed, just a thought.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2004 at 8:05pm
Hi Danny, that was my first thought also, that they had been busy eating a carcass, but I then found 4-5 more groups under rotting logs throughout the wood. I've looked under many logs for amphibians before and not come across anything quite like these things. My camera isn't working, but I'll try to get a picture of them somehow to post on the forum.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote justin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2004 at 10:46pm
i too have seen these would be nice to find out what they are i have looked under log piles for years and never seen these before justin
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2004 at 11:35am

As my camera was just having a holiday and decided to work this morning here are some pictures of the grey wriggly things.....

I had a closer look today and they look more like caterpillars than maggots, with a defined head.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2004 at 4:57pm

 

Gemma those thin grey things are called fingers aren't they? hee hee. Seriously, they sort of resemble blood worms that are used for fishing but I wouldn't know the latin name for them. If you have gold fish in a pond, I'm sure they'd be only too pleased if you dropped them in! R

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2004 at 6:54pm

LOL Rob, goldfish in our pond...perish the thought I would electro-fish the lot of them! I did consider feeding some of the wriggly things to our rescued B.orientalis though :0)

 I suppose I could always grow a few on in a jar and see what they turn into.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vicar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2004 at 9:23am

Just a thought...hard to say from the pic, but they look a little like leatherjackets, Crane fly larvae, which eat rotting vegetable matter/plant roots etc.

 

Steve Langham - Chairman    
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group
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