[Oliveview]

We were digging up a very old olive tree and right in amongst the roots were 4 massive grubs, I think they were the grubs for the big brown flying beetles we get at night here. The grubs were the size of my thumb, I do not lie! :shock:  Fed them to next doors chickens, must have been like Christmas all over again for them
Pamela (in Spain)

[Biscombe]

Dont like creepy crawleys!!!! we get nasty big mole crickets and chafer bugs!

[Oliveview]

These brown beetles can´t land safely, they crash land and then end up on their backs with their legs waving about and by the morning the ants have sorted them out!
Nice and cold with you Biscombe?  Freezing here this morning, about 3.8 deg. but by the afternoon it is due to be around 18-20 deg. We could do with some rain soon.
Pamela

[Biscombe]

Hi Pamela!! cold!!!on my 6.30am starts I hav Ice on the windscreen!! roll on spring!! nice dat temps though!
your poor beatles!!  

[wellingtons]

... those grubs could have been stag beetles ... especially as they were in amongst the roots of an old tree ...  

They are vary rare and may even be a protected species ... not all creepy crawlies are bad things.

[Biscombe]

Remember many moons ago whan I was a student cycling back home being chased by flying stag beatles!!!!! ...not nice

PS mole crickets ARE NOT my friends!

[muntjac]

june bugs is tasty tho if ya dont know ya eating em  :oops:

[Sadgit]

right I hate you.. I see the words "olive tree" and I get all envious!!! Grrrr UK weather!!!

[Eristic]

I see the words "olive tree" and I get all envious!!!

So why are you envious? They've got ice on windscreens, wee've got night temps 12°c. I've had an olive tree outside in a pot for years and intend to plant it on my plot next to the pond.

Think global warming: Plant an olive tree.

[Sadgit]

does it produce fruit?

[Eristic]

Yes. It fruited in 2005 and hopefully it will fruit again this year. As olive trees go though, it is still a baby.

[wellingtons]

... had it since 2004 and it's fruited every year ... I have yet to go through all the rigmarole to be able to eat the few olives it produces though.   And straight off the the tree they are not good ...

[Flying Cyril]

Sounds like the bugs of the cockchafer, a brown furry critter that crashes into everything in site when it's flying. If the bugs were about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long and bent almost double then thats what they were. You did the best thing with them, they destroy root systems and cause massive damage. I found some on my plot and squashed them. Stag beetle grubs are found only in rotten oak and are not a threat to plants, in fact they are protected.

"Flying" Cyril.