In my last week’s article, I had mentioned that fully ‘matured’ biocompost in your compost bin becomes a well-developed natural ecosystem in itself. Surprised? General notion is that the ecosystem comprises living plants and animals (Biotic Components) and the life sustaining natural resources like air, water, soil (Abiotic Components) etc. These are dependent on each other and constantly interact with each other in nature.
Considering this, how do we ascertain that a natural ecosystem is developed now in your compost bin? Well, let me explain. As the compost in your bin reaches its maturity, you would come across certain small and large insects. Among these, the most common ones are the fruit flies which are generally attracted to overripe ‘fruity’ items like banana. These flies are technically known as Drosophila.
These help bacteria to degrade larger chunks of fruits and fruit peels to decompose to a large extent. These flies lay their tiny eggs which eventually hatch releasing tiny larvae which keep on digesting their food and enrich the compost with nutrients. Another common insect species that you might see living in the compost bin is a type of scarab beetle.
In the accompanying photo, you can see mommy and daddy beetles and their little but thick and fat kids commonly known as the maggots. The adults reproduce, lay their eggs eventually developing into these maggots which then pass through different stages of development, form the pupa and then emerge as adult.
So, these beetles complete their entire life cycle generation after generation without ever coming out of the compost bin! And in fact, when the adults complete their life cycle, they die and their dead bodies add additional nutrients to the compost. Amazing! Isn’t it? So absolutely no worries at all! Those maggots or their parents will never crawl out of the bin; they just hate the light. If you bring them out and put them on the surface of compost in the bin, they will immediately bore down and wriggle inside. They always prefer to move deep inside the compost.
According to the research done by Dr. Gayatri Gujrathi under the guidance of a renowned environmentalist and ex-Principal of B. N. Bandodkar college of Science Thane, Dr. Madhuri Pejaver madam, these beetles help in composting in larval as well as in the adult stage. The constant tunnelling of larva churns and transfers the microbes and air through the compost and their excreta enhances the nutrient quality of the compost. (By the way, Dr. Gayatri has been awarded a Ph.D. degree by the University of Mumbai for this research!).
Besides these, there are sandfly larvae, certain types of ants etc. which help in composting process. More about this next week. Till then, have a nice weekend!
(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)
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