Where were these thingys? In the pile or on top?
What did they look like? Straight, wiggly, creamy wee critters or kind of "C" shaped more whiteish with a black or organge head?

they were towards the top of the pile.
not c shaped, they're not grubs, i get those all the time. they were straight, large, big segments, and wiggly.
can't remember the head color, i just hurried and threw in coffee grounds.
I read somewhere that it was indication of too much moisture in compost pile, but i keep my compost pile borderline dry.

Sounds like Black Soldier Fly larvae to me. I had a lot-o-larvae in my pile just recently. I do probably run my pile too wet, cuz I don't usually get a tarp over it when it rains. They don't do any harm, I guess, but they chewed up my green stuff much faster than I was used to. I had to adjust my thinking (gasp, gasp--that was hard!) and put in much more greens than usual to get my pile to heat up to 150 weed seed killing range. BSFL don't digest browns/cellulose, and if they eat all the greens in hours, there isn't the nitrogen there for happy bacteria. Thus, no heat. I think. Pretty sure. And no use of browns, except the chewing to small particles for worms later. Of course, other bacteria are in there doing but not the thermophilic high heat ones.
In a 4x4x3 pile, I put about thirty lbs of SB UCG and two bags of ye ol' neighbors' grass clippings. The next day, while still 150, I turned the pile again.

I feel like they displace my bacterial population because they are SUCH efficient food disposals, and I know they displaced my sow bugs and worms. I could see their absence with my own eyes.

The little beggars are still out there, but in much less alarming numbers. The larvae don't like the heat of 150, and frequent turning keeps the newly laid eggs turned into the heat, too. The females lay on the edges, and it takes a few days for them to hatch.

Fly maggots on your compost may indicate that the compost pile is too wet to properly digest. Those maggots need a pretty wet environment to live and grow, so turning now could help, or just covering them with dryer material. At one time people stated that you should encourage the Black Soldier Fly larva because the adults were predators, but since the adults have no mouth they cannot eat other insects. The larva are not what you really want in your compost either.

Yeah, that last sentence above is key for me. I really want my compost to be a super booster to my soil food web, like an infusion of life that improves my soil function, not so much just for the nutrients it brings. If I just wanted N,P,K, and trace minerals, I could slap on bone meal and greensand and call it done. I want those aerobic bacteria, stable worm castings, and happy fungi so that those fertilizers are pumped out in a form my plants can actually USE.

BSFL aren't a part of the general SFW, so any compost (like mine was) that's a seething mass of screaming larvmanity--oh, oh, maybe that was me screaming--is not going to be that super booster. That's just my perspective.
My pile wouldn't get hot like usual, and they churned the inside to pudding. BSFL are not unhappy with near anaerobic conditions, they create an envirionment where they thrive and nothing else can.

The most effective thing I did to rehab my pile was the frequent turning, I think. Adults just live 5-8 days, and lay their eggs, 900 per batch, on the dry edges. Those eggs take 4 days to hatch. If you turn the pile into a hot center about that often, in two weeks or so the current larvae leave the pile to pupate and few can hatch to take their place.

I wouldn't sweat a few BSFL, even a few hundred would be good stuff still, AND a handy way for a restaurant or family of 45 to dispose of food waste and miscellaneous pig manure. :))

BSFL are considered a beneficial compost critter. Though gross visually, they break down raw organic matter into components that can be then be consumed by bacteria and worms.

IME, the presence of BSFL has nothing to do with the moisture content.

If you don't want them in your pile, do as pasty suggested, turn frequently to get a hot pile.

I usually just ignore them and by the time I ready to use my compost, they are long gone.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. But then, I've been composting so long, I don't obsess about my compost piles anymore. The BSF are helping break down the material, and that's the purpose of the pile.

Deanna

LOL! But I LIKE to obsess about my compost pile! When I'm running a hot phase I take it's temperature every day. :))
This pile is only three months old, and nothing is recognizable--of course, the grass/shredded leaves/coffee grounds that just went in weren't very recognizable from the get go.

I've never really done it this way before, with so many superfine greens and days of 140-150 at the end, and turning every few days. I usually add a pretty small amount of grass/coffee grinds/urine to get just a day or two of heat, then turn it over and let it finish out in a leisurely fashion for a month or so.
I'm keen to see how long it takes before a turning and moistening don't heat it up anymore.