Worm-like insects in house plant water.

Worztron

Hi.

I have a Succulent houseplant in a saucer of water and there are worm-like insects in the water.

Has anyone had that issue? I wonder what they are? Moth larva perhaps?

pwurple

Larvae of something, not likely a moth... probably some fly.

What water though? My succulents are in pots, and I water very little.

Worztron

pwurple wrote: »

Larvae of something, not likely a moth... probably some fly.

What water though? My succulents are in pots, and I water very little.

Hi pwurple.

They look a bit like moth larva - I usually only see the odd one on the carpet rolled up in material. Kid of like this: https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waspkilluk.co.uk%2Fcase-bearing-carpet-moth-larvae.gif&f=1

The plant is on a pot but the there are hole under it so I put it in a saucer and filled up the saucer with water so the plant can take water from underneath.

Worztron

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They look like mosquito larvae. Where did you get the water and is it lying in the saucer for long?

Worztron

Belle Worried Alphabet wrote: »

They look like mosquito larvae. Where did you get the water and is it lying in the saucer for long?

Hi Belle Worried Alphabet.

Mosquito larvae in Munster? I fill up the saucer once a week with tap water.

kylith

Definitely midge/mosquito larvae. They'll lay eggs in any standing water. If you have fish pour it into the aquarium, they'll be delighted.

Worztron

kylith wrote: »

Definitely midge/mosquito larvae. They'll lay eggs in any standing water. If you have fish pour it into the aquarium, they'll be delighted.

This guy did just that:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Worztron wrote: »

Hi Srameen.

Mosquito larvae in Munster? I fill up the saucer once a week with tap water.

Of course, mosquitoes are found all over Ireland. Leaving stagnant water for up to a week is causing this.

Calibos

Worztron wrote: »

Hi Srameen.

Mosquito larvae in Munster? I fill up the saucer once a week with tap water.

We have mosquito in Ireland. We just don't have Malaria carrying mosquito.

looksee

I currently have a very irritating mozzy bite on the sole of my foot, we definitely have mosquitoes!

Worztron

That's certainly news to me that we had mosquitoes here.

looksee

Worztron wrote: »

That's certainly news to me that we had mosquitoes here.

For some reason there seems to be large numbers of people not aware that there are mosquitoes in Ireland, in fact I have been told very firmly on a few occasion that there are not. They are very easy to see however. They tend to fly in a drifting kind of way, they have quite long, sharply angled legs and a small body, and have a long proboscis that they stick into your skin. Look a bit like a very small daddy long legs. Dratted things.

Worztron

looksee wrote: »

For some reason there seems to be large numbers of people not aware that there are mosquitoes in Ireland, in fact I have been told very firmly on a few occasion that there are not. They are very easy to see however. They tend to fly in a drifting kind of way, they have quite long, sharply angled legs and a small body, and have a long proboscis that they stick into your skin. Look a bit like a very small daddy long legs. Dratted things.

Maybe they get mixed up with midges a lot of the time.

peasant

That's a picture of their egg-raft between the larvae
If you see one of those in your bird bath or wherever you have stagnant water...remove it before the buggers hatch

kylith

peasant wrote: »

That's a picture of their egg-raft between the larvae
If you see one of those in your bird bath or wherever you have stagnant water...remove it before the buggers hatch

That'd be the 'carpet moth larva' thing the OP saw.

Achasanai

Worztron wrote: »

Hi Srameen.

Mosquito larvae in Munster? I fill up the saucer once a week with tap water.

Leaving a succulent in stagnant water isn't good for the plant either. The soil should be completely dry before you water it again.

Worztron

peasant wrote: »

That's a picture of their egg-raft between the larvae
If you see one of those in your bird bath or wherever you have stagnant water...remove it before the buggers hatch

Cheers for the tip.

Worztron

kylith wrote: »

That'd be the 'carpet moth larva' thing the OP saw.

Hi kylith.

What? You mean the larva I had was moth larva?

Worztron

Achasanai wrote: »

Leaving a succulent in stagnant water isn't good for the plant either. The soil should be completely dry before you water it again.

The water was usually almost dried up at the end of the week but I will be more alert in future. Cheers.

Hocus Focus

Mosquitos arrived in Ireland through Dublin Airport in, I think, the seventies and became prevalent around the Malahide Estuary area. They have since spread far beyond Fingal.
The fruit and veg packing plant close to our house has been required to build a wetland to filter its waste washing water, so I guess we now have a mosquito farm nearby:(

dathi

https://www.energia.ie/business/hub/news/do-mosquitoes-actually-exist-in-ireland
have a read here about mosquito in ireland

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Hocus Focus wrote: »

Mosquitos arrived in Ireland through Dublin Airport in, I think, the seventies and became prevalent around the Malahide Estuary area. They have since spread far beyond Fingal.
The fruit and veg packing plant close to our house has been required to build a wetland to filter its waste washing water, so I guess we now have a mosquito farm nearby:(

That's only one species. We have at least 18 species of mosquito throughout Ireland and they have been here since the end of the last ice age. We had malaria here a couple of hundred years ago and it was referred to as 'the ague'.

Achasanai

Worztron wrote: »

The water was usually almost dried up at the end of the week but I will be more alert in future. Cheers.

Maybe you're grand, but you would increase the risk of root rot if you leave them sitting in water. Most succulents like occasional watering when the soil becomes dry. I let them dry out and give them a good soak, but would be careful to make sure all the water drained before I put them back.

I know it's not addressing your actual problem, but it might also solve it by not having sitting water around.

Worztron

Achasanai wrote: »

Maybe you're grand, but you would increase the risk of root rot if you leave them sitting in water. Most succulents like occasional watering when the soil becomes dry. I let them dry out and give them a good soak, but would be careful to make sure all the water drained before I put them back.

I know it's not addressing your actual problem, but it might also solve it by not having sitting water around.

That'll solve 2 problems at once. :-)

kylith

Worztron wrote: »

Hi kylith.

What? You mean the larva I had was moth larva?

No, I mean that the 'moth larva' you saw was most likely actually the egg raft of the mosquitoes.

Worztron

kylith wrote: »

No, I mean that the 'moth larva' you saw was most likely actually the egg raft of the mosquitoes.

You mean my post #3? I did not see that moth larva - that was just an example photo I found online. I was checking if the new larva was from a carpet moth.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=104405667&postcount=3

DamoKen

Hocus Focus wrote: »

Mosquitos arrived in Ireland through Dublin Airport in, I think, the seventies and became prevalent around the Malahide Estuary area. They have since spread far beyond Fingal.
The fruit and veg packing plant close to our house has been required to build a wetland to filter its waste washing water, so I guess we now have a mosquito farm nearby:(

Mosquitos in Malahide are nasty little buggers. Always been a problem,especially in the castle grounds. Local belief was they were inadvertently introduced by Lord Talbot back in the day when it was the height of fashion if one owned a castle and peasants to also have a private "garden" full of the exotic plund..wonders of empire

Definitely larvae in that bowl. Got rid of a sh*tload of them last week draining a stagnant pond. Haven't been bitten since.

Alun

Mosquitos have been here for a lot longer than the 70's.

http://www.newstalk.com/Mosquito-myth-busting--mozzies-and-malaria-in-Ireland

It's said that one of the things contributing to the death of Cromwell was a bout of malaria contracted while he was in Ireland.