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very small worm like bug in water

i have 3 "stalks" of bamboo in a bucket with rocks and water and i went over to see if it needed more water, and there were tons of black worm looking bugs swimming around in the water. they were about 1/2 centimeter long. some were gathered around the stalk of one bamboo, while others were on teh bucket sides near the water's edge, but they weren't moving. i don't know if they were drowning or swimming, but i just put the entire bucket with everything in it in a trashbag and threw it out. what are those bugs? i tried looking for pictures online, but i dont know if it was full grown or in the larva stage. please help!

Assuming your pot of bamboo w
Assuming your pot of bamboo was outside, the first thing that came to my mind was blackfly larvae, although I believe they are mostly attached to the bottom substrate, and not usually swimming around. They have a somewhat swollen lower portion, but might look worm-like to someone who didn't know what they were, I suppose. They are also very tolerant of low-oxygen conditions, such as a stagnant pool of water.

And your'e sure it wasn't mosquito larvae???? They are wriggly things as well. These however stay at the top, breathing through a little "snorkel" of sorts sticking out of their posterior. IF this is what it turns out to be, you might want to change the water frequently to prevent these larvae from becoming a problem. There is unfortunately a possibility of West Nile Virus from these larvae.

You can also check out "" and see if you find your wormy creatures there.

Many flies have aquatic larvae
Chironomid midges are the first thing that comes to mind, but I'm not sure if they're big enough. Some of them (called bloodworms) are blood-red from the hemoglobin they use to absorb oxygen from the water, but they came in other colors, too.

There are worm-like aquatic beetle larvae too.

the bamboo was inside, and th
the bamboo was inside, and the water was probably stagnant since i've never actually switched the water, i just kept adding new water. also, i looked up pictures of mosquito larva and they didn't look like that.

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