Are these grubs or some other damaging worm like in my soil?

10 years ago

Hello, Been a while since I last posted here. It's that time of the year again and I been a little more tending to my plants/trees.

I was preparing to test the soil fertility today and began digging a few inches into my soil and freaked out when I noticed these slithery looking small white worms. :shock:

There pretty small measuring in at around 1/2" to 3/4" in length.

Are these grubs or some other sort of worm that I should be concerned with? The front on their body is sort of flat shaped while their tail portion is pointed somewhat (as shown in the photo).

I also see many (of what seems like) their eggs (also included in photos).

Anybody know what these are? I discovered these in my grapes and nectarine trees which are both currently growing in plastic containers.

There are loads of these worms. It's as if there infested with these.. My plants haven't been looking it's best lately, which I been suspecting possibly some sort of nutrient deficiency.. And then I discover these... :(

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Comments (13)

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Original Author
10 years ago
several worms slithering around
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Original Author
10 years ago
Another shot of these worms...
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I read the A&M link. It wouldn't be the first time A&M was wrong about something. Plus they're about as Agri-business as you can get. Their testing of organic methods is often suspect. Their conclusion about the ineffectiveness of Milky Spore could be simply because they didn't account for it's 2-3 year establishment time. I have no proof about the effectiveness of Milky Spore. I applied it at the proper time according to instructions about 25 years ago. I haven't had noticeable grub damage in my lawn since then. Maybe it's luck, or it's attributable to other factors or methods. A few of those years I treated the lawn for fleas, but most years not. I live in South Texas with alkaline clay soil. The only thing milky spore or lawn insecticide treatments can be expected to do is to kill the larvae in the soil. The adults are not feeding when you see them bouncing off your exterior lights or your forehead. They lay their eggs and then die. The prime time to treat them is as soon as you stop seeing them around your outdoor lights. They've laid their eggs and died. The larvae are near the surface, small, and tender. When I dig in my yard, I often see a few grubs. The thing to remember is that, regardless of what control method you use, you can never kill them all. The only time you won't see grubs is when they turn into adults and come out of the ground to fly around bouncing off of things till they lay eggs and die. rangier
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Here's a picture (not mine--it's from the internet but this is what's out there. I will try to get a picture from my garden later). They are just underneath the surface and go down a few inches. If I dig them up they burrow back underneath the ground. From what I read they are beetle larvae, and it seems like they usually ruin lawns by eating the roots. I am guessing these things are all over my yard, and they are what killed off the grass that once existed in my backyard (when we moved in it was already just weeds and dirt, but I do know there was once sod, maybe 6 or 7 years ago). Now they are in my garden bed eating all the plant roots. I wish they could just eat the roots of weeds in my yard! Thanks to everyone for responding! I hope the picture helps if anyone has experience with these. I'm thinking since my entire yard is infested I might have to just spray the entire area with pesticides and start again next year. I'm wondering if anyone agrees that's the best option? I know a picture of the actual infestation might help so you can see how prolific these grubs are. I will get one later. Thanks again for any input.
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Those are mounts of worm poop. It means you have super healthy soil. No grubs, but tons of beneficial worms. The crows are going crazy eating them, since they are so easy to find under those conditions. Re-seed your lawn at 2lbs/1000sf of grass mix seed. right around now, and let the grass germinate. Keep the grass tall at 4" and mow. By keeping the grass tall in the spring it will put out seedheads and re-seed itself. No need to detatch. Just seed and makes sure the top soil is moist until the grass seed germinates. Also I can see there is a lot of dead crabgrass there, so as soon as the soil temp reaches 55F, the weed seed will germinate. Re-seed now,let the grass grow tall , and don't bag the grass clippings. Javi
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ewwww they are gross, huh? I am in Burbank (we drive to Ojai for a day trip every so often). I was recently reading online the difference between grubs and cut worms .... i think I have a cut worm problem.....chopped down tomato and eggplant plants. I believe the grubs are into eating your lawn and the cutworms the plants. I will look it up again, but clearly you have many expert answers on here! I have been using neem oil in my garden to ward off insects as much as possible. But some are beneficial (such a dilemma)
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Original Author
10 years ago
Here's the shot of the little red looking eggs I discovered throughout the soil also....

Hopefully somebody that's experienced with this sort of issue or blessing can enlighten me... :?
jean001a
10 years ago
The "worms" are fly larvae (youngsters). The pointy end is the head, the blunt end the rear.
The "eggs" are fly pupal cases.
The next phase will be adult flies.
Bradybb WA-Zone8
10 years ago
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They may be some kind of fly. Brady

Here is a link that might be useful: Fly Life Cycle
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Original Author
10 years ago
Hello and thank you both for the replies. Jean001a, you are correct about the pointy end being the head and the blunt/flat end being the rear. I mis-typed that part in my initial message. I took another closer look at them after I wrote that message and noticed they were slithering with the pointy end forward. :)

So these are basically like house flies? Gez, I never knew they start out as these little worms (larva). My poor ol 7 gallon grape tree container is loaded with these larva's. There must be over 100 of them... :\ I also noticed them in my nectarine container. Heck, they may be in all my buckets. :(

So the obvious question/concerns on my part is are they or can they be harmful to my plants? I read that they feed off manure. Do they also feed on the roots of the plants and will they take away nutrients or minerals that my plant may be needing?

I really hate the thought of raising flies. From a gardeners perspective, would one usually attempt to get rid/kill them?
foolishpleasure
10 years ago
They look gruesome. Just think about next year you will have an army of them. I kill flies and ants and their larva with spectracise spray once and you are done.
bamboo_rabbit
10 years ago
Halffull,

If they are in the soil it must be rich as they feed on rich decaying organic matter like manure. Not to be confused with bottlefly maggots that feed on rotting meat.
ltilton
10 years ago
Maggots - fly larvae.
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Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for all the posts. So I now have a better understanding of what these are. I don't feel fortunate to have an abundance of these slithering critters in my fruit tree containers. :\

Are these beneficial to my plants or can they ultimately cause harm? Will they also feed on the roots of the plants? And will they take away the nutrients or minerals that my plant would need?

I'm not pleased by the sight of these and am leaning towards wanting to get rid of them all. Are there any effective organic sprays that I can add to the soil to kill em all?
bamboo_rabbit
10 years ago
I don't think they are harmful really though they are taking some of the nutrients from the soil. They won't feed on the roots. The flies that will come may bite depending on the species.
applenut_gw
10 years ago
They make great bait for bluegill and crappie. Take a hook and fill it up with them.
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Original Author
10 years ago
Sounds like there not benefiting me or my fruit plants in any way. Are there any organic sprays I can add to my soil that would kill them off?

I was looking at the "Safer" brand, they claim to be safe on fruit trees and target a broad range of insects and critters. There also omri certified...

Thanks applenut, but I'm not much of a fisher so using these for bait isn't going to work for me. Besides, I wouldn't want to spend the next few days sifting through my 7 gallon plastic containers. I just hate the thought that I'm breeding these flies in my growing medium. I need to get rid of them for good.

Please, if somebody is familiar, do tell. Some sort of organic insecticide that I can add to the soil. Something that is true, tried and tested.

Are these grubs or some other damaging worm like in my soil?

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Are these grubs or some other damaging worm like in my soil?

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