Maggot on young pepper leaf. Pictures...

[sarah_h]

Hi everybody,

I've been growing sweet peppers, sometimes successfuly (!), now for 3 or 4 years and thought I'd seen all the creepies which like to live on my plants. But then I saw these. They are maggots of some kind, they move like a maggot i.e. no legs. I thought, ah yes, pepper maggots. But these live inside the fruit don't they? I've been googling for hours and can't find anything which matches it.

Can anyone here tell me what it is? BTW I did see a frog hopper on the plant yesterday but this could be a red herring !?

Thanks for any replies.

Sarah

[Flummery]

I don't think it's a red herring!
Sorry, just being frivolous. I don't really know what it is though.

[w33blegurl]

I don't know either but it is quite ugly and made my skin crawl. Sorry for being a bit useless!!

[sarah_h]

No, not a clue! I've just spent hours searching. Anyway, I've dispatched them to maggoty heaven (or hell?). I'd like to know though as they could be good guys but I'm not going to take the chance.

I too found that it was NOT a red herring, phew, that's a relief!

[taff]

well,i thought i'd have a look being as i wasn't doing anything else, but then I found this and that made me spit out my tea....
ewwwww.....
Giant Tropical Beetles / Larvae for sale - Elephant Beetles, Hercules, Goliathus etc. - Reptile Forums

[sarah_h]

That't it!! Right, barracade the doors...

[binley100]

I do hope they are kept in tanks .........

[Bigmallly]

I do hope they are kept in tanks .........

I hope they are kept on leads........

[Scarlet]

well,i thought i'd have a look being as i wasn't doing anything else, but then I found this and that made me spit out my tea....
ewwwww.....
Giant Tropical Beetles / Larvae for sale - Elephant Beetles, Hercules, Goliathus etc. - Reptile Forums

Oh No! My boys would love to keep these - I hope they don't come across a link...

[maypril]

Unless it's a ladybird, squish it. That's my motto!

[sarah_h]

Possible solution?

I think I've found out what I have on my peppers. I *think* it's a hover fly larvae. I'm not 100% but I did see hoverflys over the plants a while back. But there are many UK species!

I'm going to let one or two develop to maturity and see what happens.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm glad you identified it, as I have them too.
here's a bit more info: Diptera, hover flies

[sarah_h]

Yes, your link shows exactly what I have on my peppers. I feel a bit guilty at dispatching some before I knew though, they are the good guys! I'm hoping the plants will be ok if I leave the larvae do what they do.