Maggot in compost. Coloured scanning electron micrograph of a dipteran fly maggot in a compost heap. Compost is made by stacking plant remains in a heap. The remains degrade to a crumbly brown compost which when dug into soil provides plant nutrients. The maggot is the larval stage in the metamorphosis of a fly from egg to adult. Eggs are laid in compost heaps as the rotting vegetation provides the hatching maggots with abundant food. The maggot is segmented; the mouth end (dark brown) tapers into a thin wedge with two mouth hooks to stabilise the maggot on its food. After 2 moults the maggots pupate. Magnification x70 at 6x6cm size.

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