All earthworms are beneficial to the soil. Unfortunately some introduced species are a bit too efficient in their activities and too prolific in their populations and create imbalances in the organic matter of some Northeastern native forests and woodlands, to their detriment. But in the home garden, all worms are beneficial and indicate a healthy amount of organic matter in the soil. I can contemplate all sorts of good reasons to screen compost and there is really no reason the presence of worms should deter you. The small ones will fall through the screening and larger ones can be tossed back into the pile or relocated to planting beds. It's all good :-) Here is a link that might be useful: earthworms

Me the OP again. I'd be hesitant to use a mosquito dunk b/c of the worms and b/c I try to keep things organic (the compost gets used on my vegetable gardent). Here's what I did exactly - tumbled the compost as usual. Then I scattered some old sawdust over the top so that there was a thin layer everywhere - just enough so that you couldn't make out the veggie peels, etc. underneath. I imagine that dried leaves, straw, or even dried mulch would work as well.

Hello, the Home Depot guy says that I indeed have seed corn maggots. He says that people have been in the store for weeks buying things to get rid of them and the plants in the ground are the most susceptible. The maggots have attacked my melons and watermelons so far. They have gotten to about half of them and hopefully that is it! All of my plants are grown from seed and are varieties that are not replaceable at any local nursery. So, I've been pulling the wilted plants and de-maggotting them... Don't ask...Lol. When I replanted them, they wilted right away again. So, I have brought them inside and stuck them into some DE and they are perky, but pale. They may be stunted beyond getting anything out of them, but I plan on trying to replant them again if they make it and regrow enough roots to support them in the soil. I am wondering if rooting compound might help them? Lorri D

Would it be possible to create an outdoor bin for the summer, using the 'wild' worms from the horse manure? That way you can increase your 'herd' and when cold weather nears, you can move them out of manure bedding into compost or paper or whatever bedding you use for the indoor 'herd', and get rid of the nasty critters. Re: the stick like creature. Is it a praying mantis? see link below. //// Or is it a Walking Stick bug? They are very bad news for gardens. Google on key words "Walking Stick bug pictures" http://www.mongabay.com/images/peru/tambopata/Tambopata_1026_3733.JPG Here is a link that might be useful: Praying Mantis pictures