Webs in Moss / Substrate (Produced by worms?)

[Bulbopedilum]

Hi everyone,
Lately I've been finding some webs in my moss. They aren't neat and circular, so no, these aren't your regular spider webs. This is a picture from a while ago showing the messy webs (Click and zoom in to see a larger version):

Before today, I've just ignored these and thought "tiny spiders", maybe remove them sometimes because they are somewhat unsightly.

However, today I made a discovery. This morning I was inspecting a pot where I was growing a fern, and there were those webs, but in the web was a black, shiny, worm. It was sort of travelling across the web, it didn't look like it was caught in it. I grabbed it and tossed it in my fish pond, because frankly, I am disgusted by most worms (Also the reason I unfortunately do not have a picture of it).

And tonight, as I was inspecting some more pots, I found the worm again (another individual) in yet another pot. Again, I grabbed it and tossed it in my fishpond. They cannot swim.

My main question is, what could this be? My guesses so far are: Some kind of worm (Although I'd like a more specific answer), gnat larva?

[Afid]

Sounds like fungus gnat larva to me...

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by Afid

Sounds like fungus gnat larva to me...

Hm, from pics online it seems that fungus gnat larvae are white/transparent with a black dot for a head. These were completely black (or very dark brown),uniform in color. Is there some variation in coloration? Also I've always thought of fungus gnat larva as underground, do they go above ground as well?

[aliceinwl]

Fungus gnats are a big group with a lot of variation, I agree that it sounds like that’s what you have.

[Bulbopedilum]

Well, thanks for the answers everyone! I'll look around for tips on how to deal with them

[Bulbopedilum]

I gathered the courage to take a picture of one of them. The head is at the bottom.

[Bulbopedilum]

bump. Can someone confirm that it is in fact a fungus gnat larva or not from the photo? The thing is at least 1 cm long. I didn't have my ruler around at the time.

[wisdomseeker]

Originally Posted by Bulbopedilum

bump. Can someone confirm that it is in fact a fungus gnat larva or not from the photo? The thing is at least 1 cm long. I didn't have my ruler around at the time.

Have you seen any adults (fungus gnats)? Won't take long to see adults if it's fungus gnat larvae.

Doesn't look like your photo is (but, I could be wrong... especially if it's in a pupate stage). Don't have any personal photos of the larvae, but I have included a link that does. Scroll about half way down to "life cycle" and they have a good picture of the larvae.

Fungus Gnats - Identification, Life Cycle, Pictures, Control

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by wisdomseeker

Have you seen any adults (fungus gnats)? Won't take long to see adults if it's fungus gnat larvae.

Doesn't look like your photo is (but, I could be wrong... especially if it's in a pupate stage). Don't have any personal photos of the larvae, but I have included a link that does. Scroll about half way down to "life cycle" and they have a good picture of the larvae.

Fungus Gnats - Identification, Life Cycle, Pictures, Control

I haven't been paying attention to small flying things around my house, so I can't be too sure right now.

I don't think it was a pupa of some sort either, it was moving around a lot and wasn't stiff at all.

I also read that fungus gnat adults are about 3mm big, so it would be weird if the larva was about 1cm long.

However, I did a Google images search for "fungus gnat larva" and found this picture, which pretty closely matches my "specimen" (Assuming it's correctly identified of course): https://live.staticflickr.com/2897/1...96be8816_b.jpg

I plan to order some 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, which I have been told kills pretty much all pests (but also kills "good" fungi and bacteria unfortunately.)

[wisdomseeker]

Overlooked the reference of 1cm in your post. Mature fungus gnat larvae usually get around 1/4" (or .635cm). Hoping you can resolve your situation, along with narrowing down a better ID to help figure out exactly what you have.