[mabel]

Does anyone know what these are.  I dug 2 of them up when turning over a piece of land for my spuds.  It has been covered with weed supressing stuff for a few months.  I'm sure they are going to turn into something horrible (but then I used to think ladybird larvae was something bad till I knew better), but not killed them yet.

[muntjac]

chafer grubs ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, kill em   :twisted:

[Sadgit]

yup... kill them..

http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0402/chafer.asp

[mabel]

Thanks for that.  I'll go and do that now.

[Aunt Sally]

NOOOO don't kill them... give then to the chooks to eat.

And if you haven't got chooks - Why haven't you  :?:  

[compostqueen]

or bird table. I can't do murder myself - on anything but giving em to the birds I can do without as much guilt

Daft I know but I could no sooner tread on a slug than fly to the moon

[mabel]

To be honest I cannot kill things either so I've thrown them over into the vineyard where next door's chooks roam.  I'm sure they will find them.  I would love to keep hens but dont eat eggs so a bit pointless.  (Also cannot afford to build the run/henhouse etc.)

[Aunt Sally]

Then adopting next door's chooks as bug eaters is a great idea  

[jennyb]

don't feel so guilty about killing the one i found the other day now!!  was worried it would have turned into a pretty butterfly!

[Trillium]

When you find hundreds (literally!) of them under your sod and you don't have chooks, you CRUSH! They eat the roots of sod and can destroy vast expanses of lawns if not kept in check. The beasts can burrow back into the lawn faster than the robins can find them. Several cities here have had major infestations of parklands from these grubs.

[CZ Silhouette]

I found loads of the Bu**ers when I lifted my lawn the other week. Gave them all to Mr Blackbird who spent most of his time waiting at my heals for the next spadefull to be turned. I think I'm his best friend now, as every time I go out in the garden he appears like the shopkeeper in Mr Ben

[Rampant_Weasel]

yup blackbirds are great and quite tame too, weve got a few and they are fighting each other at the minute as they are territorial - but i like to think they fighting for the worming rights as i dig  

[Ruby Red]

If these are chafer grubs then the beetle that comes from them is the "Cockchafer"otherwise known as the Maybug. They certainly arent very common (not round here anyway).They are very large beetles that fly around on warm May evenings. We had one banging on the window one evening because we had the light on. When we opened the door it didnt take long to fly in. They are facinating insects and have really hard wing cases. Does seem a shame to always kill things as first choice.

[mabel]

We have a lot of those in the summer, huge irridescent beetles that fly.  A bit scary if you are an insect wimp (which I am) I dont know if they do any damage but I dont want them living in my spud patch.

[jennyb]

is it a case of where you find one you'll find more?