I have a pile just about done. I turned it today, and saw a buncha bugs - not red earthworms, but grayish looking worms. Thought they were 'baby earthworms' at first glance, but now thinking about it, they were too fat and short - and they were kind of curled in the shape of a 'c'. About 20 or 30 of them. I went and read a thread about cutworms - to feed my paranoia - so now Im sure that I have a cutworm farm in my compost pile Say it ain't so!

The pile has cooled off significantly. It's just about ready, but I was a bit lazier this time around, and didn't shred everything into micro-sized bits, so there are a few things I can still identify in there.

Any thoughts?

Got a picture????

I have sow bugs or pill bugs,
and centipedes', and beetles, and oh, just bugs...
Most of those are the good ones' to help in the
digesting process of all the material...

Picture would be great!!!

No pic, but knew I shoulda. Ewwey. Okay, I'll try - but can I wait till I wake up first? <yawn graemlin>

Fat whiteish worm in C shape could also be grb worm. They will help in decomposing also to feed Catfish. Also I have found some yellow worms looks like a grub or cut worm crawling on my pepper plants killed it have not seen anymore.
Jimmy

Well, I turned my pile today...didn't have the camera with me. There were hundreds of these yucky suckers. They're grayish, definitely not yellow - not sure about whiteish, they didn't look white but coulda just been covered with compost yaknow? I dunno - I don't mind them doing all that work yaknow, I'm just worried about spreading the compost and them chewing up my stuff! I'll try to muster up the courage to get pics. It just really grossed me out! Ewwey.

Muster~Muster!~~~~~~~> and get a pic.
You've got me intrigued!!!!

I think they are probably the pill bugs. Those are the ones that look like little armadillos aren't they? I know those are my friend and they love anywhere moist in my garden. Which isn't in as many places as I'd like it to be. Hope they are friends rather than foes Mary.

I'm pretty sure now they're grubs, after mustering up the courage to go seek and photograph them I have zillions of pill bugs everywhere, and these are definitely not them. I'm uploading the pictures now - will post them as soon as it's done.

Question is, if you all can confirm they're grubs, what do I do with this heap now? I have established bushes that can use a little compost...but will they hurt them? Should I not use it in my gardens at all? I can dump it out in the far end of the yard, if need be. And I guess finally, how did this happen and what can I do better next time, if anything, to prevent it?

Okay, here's one of the little buggers. Sorry they're not real clear. For reference, they are about 1/2" - 1/4" long.

That's a grub waiting to emerge...
Can you say, Japanese Beetle!!!
**(I am never 100% sure, I will see if the
bug lady can widdle it down to a group of bugs)**

How many do you have there????

Wait, whaddya mean? Grubs and Japanese beetles are 2 different kinds of bugs aren't they? The pic is actually a bug...wormy looking thing. There were at least a hundred in that pile yesterday

I asked the buglady to take a peak..
She is a pretty busy person, and does lot's
of expeditions and such, but she's usually pretty good about taking peaks at the pictures
and answering at least in the "family" of which bug, some she needs to see up close for certain details of identificaions...

But, a Japanese beetle emerges from that casing
*it does a metamorphisis thing from grub stage,
and eats plants roots from underground,
and ememrges, and eats the leaves and flowers..

they look like lighting bug pupas to me but i would need to see a better photo. I would just keep them in a jar with a little soil and see what comes out. they don't look like Japanese beetle pupa to me at all.

Can you see any legs or is the larva inclosed in a case? Also need to put a penny in the photo for scale.


Suzanne
!!
(:

"Educating the world, one bug at a time..."

PS the Japanese beetles are out now.. they showed up about 5 days ago in zone 6.

Yeah, that's true..
We had our first one about 3 days ago come to think of it, got the first one at the mail box
and found 3 today on the rhubarb...

It's funny, I was just talkin' with Chemical
Bob about them the other day too, cause it's never failed, he'll post something about them,
I'll open my big mouth and say, I haven't seen them here yet, but if you say they're there,
it won't be long 'til I see `em!!!
An sure enough, they showed up....UGH, UGH,
and double UGH!!!

Suzanne,
My lightening bugs are already here too,
does that mean, they've gone back into the
ground where you are...or haven't gotten up yet???

well I do this project with Penn State, where I track the insects with the weather. So I have a weather monitor here to record degree days, and I track the insects that come out to help build models for pests. So watch who shows up very closely.

Well i did not catch when the post was from... but from the photo thats what they looked like. More photos would help.

Hey Hi how you doing!!!
It's nice to get to chit~chat with you!!!

So, does that put your lightening bugs out yet
where you area??? or does yours show up first
because you're further South and warmer than here??
Very curious???


And do lightening bugs hide under compost piles?
Seems like it would be too warm to hide under those??? Dunno????????

They would hide were food is.. slugs or other meat. Also there are many species of lighting bugs. They all belong to the genus Lampyridae. They may not all be out at the same time time, so even though you see some there may still be different ones in the soil. lightning bug larva image

Now with Japanese beetles, they is just one species.

I have never seen one of those,
very cool picture!!!!

I do see what you are saying, some may be out,
some are still sleeping....
Okay, I am very glad I PM'd you, I woulda told
her to stomp on those, cause they did look like
those grubs that look like J.B.

Do you have any pictures of those grubs to see???

Hi! Nice to meet ya buglady Sorry I disappeared for awhile there - been in bed most of the day with a migraine.

I checked out that lightning bug larva image...not my visitors though I wish they were. I think I saw legs, but am gonna have to look again. I looked for them again today, gave them a little bath and cleaned em up - they were yellowish/whiteish. Sorry I didn't get pics. It takes courage for me - I'm still trying to make friends with the creepy crawlies. City girl having a hard time with that. I'm making progress though I'll be back tomorrow with more pics, if my migraine allows. Thanks for the help!

japanese beetle

but keep in mind there are several different kinds of white grubs.. they are not all Japanese beetles. In fact they are now making up a smaller percent but the fact the Japanese beetles are out during the day makes people blame them the most. They other white grub adults are active at night so people don't see them to blame them.

be sure to

1. count legs
2. any antenna?
3. what do eyes look like?
4. Can you take photo next to penny? for size

looking forward to hearing back.........

Suzanne,
Okay, I've seen those...
what do they look like before they turn that color, are they in a hard shell coating???

The one's I've look exactly like the one's Mary's posted, but when touched on the bottom,
they react to the touch....

Does that help with a diagnosis????

****Mary, go out and touch them,
and see if they move???? heheehehehehee!!
Just kidding, I know how hard it can be.....

most larva and pupa will move when touched. If anyone wants to mail me a sample i will be glad to ID.

turn what color?

Well, when I see the one type of grub,
that looks like Mary's original picture...
It's brown/rust color, with a hard coating on it..

so, I kinda assumed, that it was the hard shell first and then came out like that one greenish grub, then finally came out looking like the Japanese Beetle...

I'll go see if I can hunt down a picture of what I'm talkin' about...
But those things move, inside the shell... there's no head on it, it's covered in a hard coating and then you can see the body of it..
no legs..

Weezie you're so mean! LOL!

These guys are definitely moving! As soon as I expose them they're all wriggling around - ugh - They look kinda like they're crawling on legs...but not sure. The one we picked up to take a picture of kinda looked up at us (and I think he said 'hey, doya mind?') pointy 'nose' and I think black eyes (?) Too traumatic to hang on to the image LOL So, other than the talking, does the wriggling tell you anything? I also looked at that japanese beetle larva pic. These guys have ridges, kinda like a caterpillar, only not fuzzy. I didn't see ridges on the JB larva pic. Ugh, am I making sense?

How would i send you a sample? I mean, what would I need to send it in? May be an empty aspirin bottle or something? I wish I wasn't so squirmish. Ruins my image

I'll try the pics tomorrow. Camera is very finickey when it comes to closeups, and they are really small (probably the size of a penny, which I'll include) and the camera just doesn't do detail like I want it to most times.

Today seemed like bug day. Looked to me like we had a zillion different bugs flying around that we didn't have yesterday. Of course it's probably all in my head thinking that these lavae hatched or whatever they do I did see a really cool looking rainbow metallic bug on my hosta, which I smashed to the ground. I thought I read that japanese beetles were metallic. Then I saw another freaky red bug - kind of like a cross between a ladybug and a beetle. It was red with black spots, but shaped differently than a ladybug. I left those alone...they were on the mint that's growing like a weed anyway And now I figure those were probably the japanese beetles LOL! Oh well, I'm learning. Helen saw me examining all these bugs today, and wanted to know if I was going to become a "bug-ologist" now Highly unlikely.

This is the clearest pic I could get. I had to really dig to find this guy. Most were gone, buried or camoflauged, I dont know which. I thought he was dead, but he wasn't. Just not quite as active as they were yesterday. Then again yesterday I had just gotten done watering and turning my pile when I looked at em.

1. count legs - too many, looked like cilia more than legs, but they were along each side where legs would be.
2. any antenna? Nope.
3. what do eyes look like? No eyes that I could see. One pointy nose that stuck out in front.
4. Can you take photo next to penny? for size
I took about 15 pics. This was the best I could get. Sorry, I know its not at all close enough. The 'nose' is pointed to the top of the pic.


And just for you Weezie - I guess this means I graduated or something



EWEYYYYY! I did get the heeby geebies from that but I'm really trying to overcome it! LOL!

I think the pointy end is the butt part????

Dunno? But he was 'leading' with his butt then, and sticking it up at me! LOL! May be that's why I couldn't find his eyes ROFLMAO!!!!!

OMG..



Seriously, I'm curious to find out what they are too. Good or bad?

I wish bug lady suzanne could hang out here more often, I'd riddle her with questions & pictures daily! She's so amazing. I'm greatful for when she does have time to pop in. Some day, I hope to catch her at one of the shows she goes to.. just to say I'm from the garden helper forum.

Meg

Sorry i have not been here more... I am in the middle of witting a college course on integrated pest management . It is taking so much time. At the end of the week I am off to Ohio for a greenhouse trade show, then I have a nursery show in PA, then FL then in Aug I will be in Portland, OR for another show.

I wish i could read the boards more but just swamped with witting right now. One of the magazines I write for, the editor is pregnant and asked for a years worth of articles over the next few month, so that is keeping me busy too. I just finished an article a new commercially produced parasite for citrus mealybugs... that was very interesting.

I am always available if you just email me and let me know there is a need. I am always glad to help. I learn from you all too !!

oh also, did you just take some of the pupa and put them in a jar and see what comes out? That's how I find out what things are a lot of the time.

From your new photos i am leaning more towards a fly pupa of some kind.....

Suzanne - I appreciate you taking time out to help with my mystery! It sounds like you're extremely busy (understatement!)

I kept 2 in a plastic jug, and sat it aside while I was watering - forgot about them and drowned them!

I've been seeing some really cool bugs. I don't know if they're good or bad, but some are really neat looking LOL It seems like most of the grubs are gone from the pile. I saw something that was rainbow metallic looking - looked it up and it said it was a dung beetle LOL It was on my hosta, so unless it was confused, I think I mis-ID'd it. I also saw a yellow toirtoise beetle, and a gold metallic looking spider(?) I haven't seen any Japanese beetles though, I don't think. I have to get a better camera for closeups - I'm getting into this bug thing! Weird! Well, not for the buglady I dont guess
Thanks again!

well i am happy to see you are taking an interest in the buggies! I love them. I don't like to kill any of them but i realize some have to go. In the garden if you just watch you can figure out who are the bud guys are because they are eating your plants. Only a small percent of insects are pest, most don't hurt anything so just let them live

Suzanne,
Is there a good source of pictures
we can go to to look at somewhere's?
Especially like benifical bugs like the Soldier Bug, etc.

And as a side note, how's your white borage doing?
Did you find the seeds?
And does the white borage attrack as many beneficials as the blue>?

I should start a new thread...

I think the blue is much better for beneficials, the white did self seed this year though, and is still white.

Well if i could ever spend more time working on my website i would say my site... but my site is not where want it to be. I am hoping in a few weeks to get to work in it more...

I still use books for ID, keep a pile on my desk.

oh PS i just did a fact sheet for Borage with my yahoo group on heirloom plants.. here is the link

Yahoo group heirloom plants

Not to side track it, but my blue is almost
like a weed, I am stilllllllllllllllll digging
up babies...

Well, I will be looking forward to all of your bug pictures when you get them done....

I found a bunch today I had been wondering about..
One I believe was the soldier bug..*and there were three of them, and two were doing the "happy~dance" together

And then there was this one that was bright blue/green and lines of magenta...

And a lime green one too...

All were small bugs, not big..

I gotta find out what they are, good or bad..

I also went hunting for Mary's orignial bug I was looking for, but couldn't find a picture...
I'll keep looking for one though...

well if you can send me photos... i will do my best to ID...........

My poor hubby dropped it with his greasy hands...

dropped the bug or camera?

Camera, he was taking pictures of the
lawnmower they were taking apart,
so they could remember the sequence of how
to put it back together....

The one he's wants to buy costs $7oo.oo, YIKES!!!
But takes awesome pictures from what he tells me,
just wish I had a job to give a wee~bit of $$ to
him for that one, so I can take better pictures..
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, to take a close up...
I'd be in heaven...
I had one of a dragonfly, but it came out so
blurry... it was really neat...

Boy, Nothing like going from bugs, to borage, to cameras, to lawnmowers, to getting a job...
I wish there'd be a forum hostess to get over here and tell me to stick to the story line..

P.S. I've gotta go weed the garden!!!

This may not be as serious a problem as mary's grubs, but I have an old concrete yard incinerator in my backyard and thought H-e-l-p!

the white things you see are not eggs but ant pupas just so you know.

I would just put black plastic over to make it so hot the ants will want to move out. Also if the ants are living it is your compost pile might not have the right C-N ratio. The pile should be hot enough itself when composting to keep the insects out. When the C-N ratio gets off it does not heat up and does not compost very fast.

Hi Buglady,

Thanks for that info.

Actually, I wasn't real serious about composting...just thought I'd try putting leaves in there, not expecting much to happen. There isn't any air circulation really. It's got an opening at the bottom where they would remove the ashes when using the incinerator. That's really all. I can't even really stir it, it's so compacted in there. But the leaves did mash down quite a lot and it looks like they have rotted some. It didn't steam at all in the winter.

So what can I add to it to make it cook? Should I start putting kitchen waste in there, even tho it doesn't have air circulation?

I'll try the black plastic and see if it helps.

Thanks,

jmacd

well i think you will get more insects that way. If you want to compost i would get a bin or make a ring of chicken wire to put all your stuff in.

here is a site that might help you

http://www.mggardens.co.uk/compost.htm