[JohnB47]

Hi.

I haven't a photo but I'm seeing quite a few of these as I dig over very old ground on my allotment (ie ground not used for over 5 years). They're a sort of ginger colour, very thin and wriggley and with lots of parallel legs along their bodies. Around 1" to 2" long. We used to call insects like these centipeeds when I was young.

Also another - similar colour but fatter, not as long, no legs and with a body built up of sections. Looks like a sort of grub type worm. Moves very slowly.

Are these friends or foes.

[Salmo]

As a rule of thumb things in the soil that move fast are predators and things that move slowly are plant eaters.

So your centipedes are good and your leatherjackets, for that is what they probably are, are baddies.

[Aunt Sally]

Them baddies could be wire worms - larvae of the click beetle.  They nibble holes in your potatoes 

[8doubles]

Sounds like a garden centipede http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/centip.htm
and leatherjackets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tipula_leatherjacket_Emelt.jpg
as mentioned by Salmo.

[Aunt Sally]

Or a wireworm as mentioned by Aunty 

[8doubles]

Guess i`m lucky in never seeing wireworms in the garden , plenty of leatherjackets in pre-chook days though.

[Salmo]

Wireworms is not soft and has small legs near the front as they is beetle lavae.

[Aunt Sally]

Wireworms is not soft and has small legs near the front as they is beetle lavae.

Yes. I know that but the legs are really difficult to see, especially for a newbie to gardening.  They are very common in soil that was grass previously.  It could of course be leather-jackets too.  They are VERY fat compared to a centipede.

[JayG]

If the skinny one looks like the one in this picture it is apparently a centipede (very common but also very confusing as it doesn't move quickly although it does wriggle like an extremely wriggley thing when disturbed!)

As a centipede I guess it's basically a "good guy".

[woodburner]

Soundslike millipedes/centipedes are the wriggly ones and wireworms are teh wlow ones. They do have legs near the front as pointed out already, but they are quite hard to see, especially if you need reading glasses to read small print, but have left them at home.

Nice page here.

[Paul Plots]

Soundslike millipedes/centipedes are the wriggly ones and wireworms are teh wlow ones. They do have legs near the front as pointed out already, but they are quite hard to see, especially if you need reading glasses to read small print, but have left them at home.

Nice page here.

Love the link - easy pictures for the slow Learners - thanks! 

(Poor old blackbird... how come it is on the "almost wanted" list? A lot of fuss about nothing in the blackbirds case!)

[Snoop]

Fantastic link, Woodburner. Thanks.

[granjan]

Very interesting Woodburner.  I've been trying to find a page like that for ages 

[JohnB47]

Thanks eveyone.

As suggested ed by others and confirmed by Woodburners excellent link, I can now say that my insects are definitely 'Snake or Garden Centipede' and 'Wireworm'. So, good and bad news.

Next time I find the wireworms it's bad news for them.

I might put a couple of old spuds on a skewer, as mentioned on Woodburners link, to tempt some of the Wireworms. One good thing is that they're easy to spot when digging, 'cos they're fairly bright orange.

Thanks again all.

[Aunt Sally]

Next time I find the wireworms it's bad news for them.

The life cycle of the click beetle is about 4 years so it will take that long for them to disappear after the land has gone into cultivation from grass land.

The really are a pain in your potato crops till then though