Can someone ID these please?

[beachlover]

I recently took on a second allotment next to mine after an old chap retired after forty years!
Anyway, in a plastic dustbin of what looks like stagnant water and possibly rotted rhubarb leaves, I discovered these fellas.

They are about an inch long, creamy white and have a "tail" about as long as the body. There are hundreds of them.
Can anyone identify them and what if anything do they hatch into?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I reckon them's Silverfish.

 

[HillBill]

They look like rat tailed maggots (hover fly larvae) they look similar to the below.
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1225152
http://www.arkive.org/pine-hoverfly/blera-fallax/image-A14166.html
They are definately true fly larvae if not the above.

 

[Bushwhacker]

They look like rat tailed maggots (fly larvae) they look similar to the below.
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1225152

They are definately true fly larvae if not the above.

Ooh, good shout!

 

[HillBill]

Had to google it once as i found some before and was curious.

Ooh, good shout!

 

[beachlover]

Thanks Mark. I reckon you are right looking more closely at one....

and with little else to do, I sat about and saw quite a few of these coming and going...

 

[Niels]

I would get out my fishing rod and see if the perch don't like them. If not, a flamethrower seems the way to go.

 

[Harvestman]

Rat tailed maggot indeed. Famous for breathing through their bottom (via the tube)

 

[beachlover]

Rat tailed maggot indeed. Famous for breathing through their bottom (via the tube)

As opposed to talking out of it, which applies to a lot of humans. Thanks for that. Does it hatch into a specific fly or is that form of maggot larvae common to many?

 

[Harvestman]

As opposed to talking out of it, which applies to a lot of humans. Thanks for that. Does it hatch into a specific fly or is that form of maggot larvae common to many?

They hatch into drone flies, which are bee mimicking hoverflies of the genus Eristalis. Here's a picture.

 

[beachlover]

That's great Harvestman. Thanks for the information

 

[daveO]

Kinda off topic but the rhubarb leaves were probably being soaked to make a liquid that repels butterflies away from brasicas. This was a top tip I was given by Terry Walton last week.

 

[Robbi]

wonderful to use trotting down on a centrepin for the chub

 

[beachlover]

Kinda off topic but the rhubarb leaves were probably being soaked to make a liquid that repels butterflies away from brasicas. This was a top tip I was given by Terry Walton last week.

I have heard that too. It's supposed to be the oxalic acid isn't it. Strange how these critters thrived on it eh?

 

[Harvestman]

Kinda off topic but the rhubarb leaves were probably being soaked to make a liquid that repels butterflies away from brasicas. This was a top tip I was given by Terry Walton last week.

That makes sense. The rat tailed maggot is adapted to really murky environments, where there is very little oxygen in the water. They hold the 'tail' up to the surface and draw in air from above the water whilst the rest of the larva is safe underwater.

 

[beachlover]

wonderful to use trotting down on a centrepin for the chub

You knew that thought would be one of the first that crossed my mind Robbi
Sadly, they looked too friable to survive long on a hook although that may be because they were in and therefore containing a lot of water, but the first couple I picked up just disintegrated