red wiggly things

[RosalieM]

Hi All,
This is a general question out of curiosity... We had some rain the other day and I had some pot plants sitting outside in tote trays. I thought I should probably go check on them... The water has several 'wiggly things' which I have identified as baby mosquitoes and will get rid of. There are also some red little worm things which seem to almost tie themselves in knots as they swim around. Does anyone know what these are? When they are on the bottom of the tray they seem to crawl like caterpillars.
Rosalie

[smiley]

Leeches perhaps? Put one on your arm and you'll soon know! Either that or some form of plant nematode. See if you can make them grow.

Cheers, K

[ri]

G'day,
our Biology teacher reckons they are bloodworms and are a sign of pollution. She learnt this from Streamwatch.
Hope this helps,
~Robyn

[RosalieM]

Thanks for the ideas. I ended up emptying the bucket out onto the grass because I didn't want the mosquitoes to hatch out in the prep room - but perhaps I shouldn't have! It has been raining again (yay!!) so perhaps there will be some more. I'll go and check later. If there are some there I might keep a few in a beaker without any mosquitoes and see what happens...
Rosalie