Grubby compost

Hi,
I was given some horse manure from a friend, its been sat a few weeks.
Went to get some yesterday and found many whiteish grubs on the surface.
They have black faces/mouths.
They look a bit like small vine weval grubs but I'm not sure.
Needless to say the compost has stayed in the bag and well away from the garden.
Any ideas what they are and if the compost is worth salvaging?

Thanks
D

 

I don't think they are vine weevil- they are not c-shaped and slightly fatter in the middle. Also, the wrong shade of grubbiness! Were there live roots in the manure? Because otherwise there would be no food available for VW. They look like bog-standard maggots - could they be regular bluebottle? If so, they will hatch and disappear with no harm to plant life. Not too sure about other forms of life on your premises, though!

 

They're not maggots as they have heads. I can't remember what they're called but they can be found under horse poo out in the fields. I used to collect them to use as fishing bait because small fish like minnows couldn't suck them dry/swallow them before they drifted to where the big fish were.

Are they like these (wireworms)? They look a bit skinny for chafer grubs.

 

gonna watch this thread- even though it's making my head itch
Jenny

 

-run for the hills is missing I think?
Jenny

 

There was some grass with the long white root runners in, so could be feeding off those.
Not a bad idea sticking them in a jar, what food might they need?
Look quite like the wire worms, no obvious tails though and heads smaller.

One thing about manure, will keep while I look at the wrigglers...

D

 

Oh dear that sounds like it could be couch grass. Is it like this?

 

The bugs will hatch and fly off and the couch grass will lift easily out of soft ripe manure (it'll be as satisfying as picking scabs!) and it'll all be left nice and clean. Don't give up!

 

@Jenny namaste, don't even think about googling maggots for identification purposes!

 

Hi All

Leather jackets before they turn into daddy longlegs

you can stop hiding now Jen

 

But I don't like daddylonglegs 'cos they fly into your face..

 

No - Leather jackets are thicker, grey coloured and don't have heads. I've squished many hundreds of leatherjackets and it's not them (I now collect them for hens).


http://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/farmingnews/9124851.Leatherjackets____focus/

 

http://ladybirdplantcare.co.uk/leatherjacket.html