[AndyRVTR]

Hi all... been turning over the part of the plot over the past few days and have come across a fair few creepy crawlies one of which in particular.
I've looked on this site as well as others and I cant find out what it is.
They tend to be a bit like a centipede about 1-1.5" long, with a very pale orangy/yellow colour, lots of legs and they try to bury if you touch them.. any ideas anyone?
BTW same area had spuds in last year.

[Starling]

Wireworms?

[AndyRVTR]

I thought that but they dont look the same?

[DavidT]

If not wireworms, the millipedes.

[mobilekat]

Will they keep still long enough for a photo??

[massa]

are they these http://www.gardensafari.net/english/centipedes.htm i have got a problem with the spotted snake millipedes on this page eating my spuds they have got 50% of what i have lifted so far and i dont know what to do about them!

[Salmo]

Centipedes are goodies and move fast as they are predators.

Millepedes move slowly and are baddies as they eat plant matter.

Massa's site illustrates them well.

Wireworms are slow moving with few legs and are difficult to squash, hence their name.

[JayG]

Haplophilus subterraneus (see Massa's link) lives in the soil, as its name suggests, and tends to wriggle frantically when disturbed rather than quickly scarper. In other words it does not look or behave like a typical centipede but it is one, and is apparently an active predator of soil bugs so has to be considered beneficial.

[savbo]

Good grief - I'm an ecologist and ex-ranger but have only now learnt that what I always thought was a kind of millipede is actually a centipede! I love this site...

[massa]

does anyone know what i can do about my millipede problem?

[AndyRVTR]

are they these http://www.gardensafari.net/english/centipedes.htm i have got a problem with the spotted snake millipedes on this page eating my spuds they have got 50% of what i have lifted so far and i dont know what to do about them!

Nope... none of those....

Will they keep still long enough for a photo??

Nope... they're very fast little devils... as soon as the soil is disturbed they start digging downwards in every crook and cranny...