When turning your compost pile, be aware of some of the creatures you may come across in the process. Believe it or not, most of them are helping to break down your pile and doing other good deeds. Geckos, pillbugs, earwigs and beetles are keeping your compost free of pests and creating vital air spaces within your pile at the same time.
One creature you may find alarming both in larval and adult form (but shouldn’t) is the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). The gray/brown, 1″ long segmented larva just loves compost piles. And, for reasons scientists are still trying to understand, the soldier fly larva seems to inhibit house fly larval development, which has proven to be a good thing for many farmers and livestock breeders with manure management issues.
Adult soldier flies do not bite or sting and are completely harmless to humans. They have an elongated black, fly-like body, but are not particularly good fliers. When not munching on manure or organic material, they generally like to rest on a sunny area, moving their crisscrossed wings in a quick, flitting manner.
Give these little guys a break; they may star in their own CSI series someday. According to the Journal of Forensic Sciences, investigators are sometimes assisted in postmortem estimates based on black soldier fly activity around discovered remains.