@chaoticbeautyofanime submitted: Can you tell me what this lil cutie is? He has this weird trunk (or butt???) thing going on and he has so many segments!! A lot of em keep appearing on my front house and because my family don't know what they are and just don't like bugs in general they keep flicking these creatures (which Im sure is pretty bad for em since they're so tiny...) off our tiles. Could you ID them so I could put em to a better place?? Thank you!!!
Found in South Tangerang, Indonesia
Hiiii it looks like a black soldier fly larva, probably in the pre-pupa stage. The younger larvae will be a sort of beige/tan color. When they’ve gotten to the pre-pupa stage, they’ll darken in color and leave their feeding area to go find a nice place to pupate. Pre-pupae do not feed, but they do move. That’s likely why you’re finding them in the house - they’re looking for a cozy place to pupate. Once they pupate, they’ll be very dark brown and will not move.
Young larvae feed on organic matter - they love compost heaps and organic matter garbage especially. Since pre-pupae don’t eat, they don’t need a food source, so it’s perfectly fine just to take them outside and put them somewhere dry and sheltered, like mulch or leaf litter.
Your family can rest assured they are not harmful. Hope that helps! :)
