What arthropods are these?

December 3, 2010 2:52 PM

What arthropods are these? (some people may be grossed out by the photo, sorry) Maybe they aren't arthropods at all? my taxonomic skillz are weak
posted by dkg to Science & Nature (8 answers total)

They look a bit fat, but maybe mealworms?
posted by wowbobwow at 2:56 PM on December 3, 2010

they look like fly larvae
posted by facetious at 2:56 PM on December 3, 2010

Best answer: Ooo or maybe soldier fly larvae?
posted by wowbobwow at 2:59 PM on December 3, 2010

They look like mealworms. If that's your compost pile they're in, be happy. They're basically eating your veggie scraps and pooping out topsoil. Let 'em do their thing, they're not going to tear down your house or turn into killer bees or anything. They also make good food for chickens and such.
posted by bartleby at 3:03 PM on December 3, 2010

Yeah, another vote for mealworms. You can actually buy them in bait shops and suchlike - some folks use them to encourage bluebirds to hang around during nesting season. And of course for bait. There's a bit towards the bottom of the page on growing your own.
posted by jquinby at 3:52 PM on December 3, 2010

Best answer: seconding soldier fly larvae; they really look to fat to be mealworms. Go to google, click on "images" and type in "Soldier Fly Larvae" --that'll give you a good cross-section of picture data.
posted by Ys at 5:43 PM on December 3, 2010

I can't tell from the picture, but if they have a discernable head and mouthparts they are mealworms, and if they do not they are maggots (fly larvae). Maggots feed by using little mouth hooks rather than chewing mouthparts.
posted by bolognius maximus at 8:00 PM on December 3, 2010

Response by poster: I've marked the soldier fly larvae answers as the right ones. that seems to be the answer that fits. thanks!
posted by dkg at 9:35 PM on January 10, 2011