My chickens think they are worth me saving for them and are always delighted to see me turning the pile:)

Michael

Hey the search engine is working again! It's a miracle. ;)

Anyway here are some previous discussions on grubs in compost if you want to read through them.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Grubs in Compost discussions...

Those are the larva of one or more of the Scarab Beetle family which after hatching out feed on plant roots and any other organic matter living or dead. They are not particularly harmful as grubs unless the population exceeds 10 grubs per square foot. Those grubs are not significant digesters of compost, and they can be fed to the birds.

As stated above, the birds in the neighborhood always know when the pile is turned.

Dan

Scarab beetles -- aren't those the things that burrow under your skin when you desecrate a pharaoh's tomb?

(What do you mean, The Mummy isn't a documentary?)

Kimmsr is probably right on.

I live in a country where the beetles are valuable. We get grubs as big as your fist and raise them as pets. They do not seem harmful. Actually, the smaller they are here, the less welcome they are. Big ones tend to hang out in the compost pile. A few varieties excrete poison, so larger animals do not bother them. The ones you show could become interesting creatures if you put them in a terrarium with sufficient food for a time. Iridescent wings, wildly colored chitinous wing covers, etc.

The smaller ones seem to hang out in the garden, where I do not want them. I either give them to kids or toss them into the forest. They are happier there anyway.

So are scarab beetles different than Japanese and Hoplia beetles which can decimate roses? Whenever I see grubs in my soil (I don't have a compost heap), I get nervous.

So are scarab beetles different than Japanese and Hoplia beetles

Yes they are. There are 100's of different beetle species, many of them quite beneficial when it comes to gardening and composting. Always pays to know your enemy, and your friend. ;)

Dave

Japanese Beetles, June Bugs, Cicadas are all members of the Scarab Beetle family. Most are not particularly hazardous to your plants although there are some just as the Lady Beetle family has a couple, the Mexican Bean Beetles are one, that are not beneficial, unless yuou do not like beans and do not care that they get eaten up.

Thanks for everyone weighing in. Although I guess it's hard to ID a grub, it seems that they are doing no harm in the compost and may actually be helping things proceed as they should. As a safety precaution, I'll try to sift them out of any compost before I add it to my garden though. Tender seedling roots may be too tempting, even for beneficial grubs!

That sounds wise, haplo. If grubs are generally good for the compost pile, that's one thing. But grubs in soil - well if you have roses, one needs to id the kinds of grubs since Japanese Beetles and Hoplia beetles are definitely not friends.

IN GENERAL, so there are exceptions, many of the critters that you find in the compost pile are there because they prefer to consume dead and decaying organic matter. They usually won't eat live plants and live roots unless there isn't anything else for them to eat....

I don't know if you have green fruit beetles where you are, or any fruit trees to be attacked by them, but they are the single worst pest I have on my nectarine trees, eating the ripe fruit. If your grubs are fruit beetle grubs kill every one you come across. They like to live at the bottom of compost piles or in the soil directly under a compost pile.

As a general rule of thumb the larva of any insect that you can see easily is not a significant digester of organic matter for making compost. The reason, most often, they are there is because the material is too moist, because all of these larva need a quite moist environment to hatch out in and then to live in. As the people at North Dakota State University have said the presence of these critters can indicate poor manahement of a compost pile.

See what I mean about conflicting reports on how beneficial these can be?

My compost pile has definitely been untended. I saw the grubs when I first turned it after a winter of leaving it alone.

Here a post saying that the grubs are beneficial:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2002013027009234.html

Here's another one on the exact same grub, saying that they can be very destructive to your lawn:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_fruit_beetle

And Soldier fly larva are pretty much acclaimed for being helpful, so we should be careful lumping everything into a single category.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=802&storyType=garde

I was hoping for a solid ID on what kind of grubs I had in my compost, but my pictures may be too fuzzy for anyone to tell for sure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soldier Fly Larvae

Your County Extension office should have an entomologist on staff.

Rather than showing anonymous people a blurry foto for a distance ID offered by a wide range of amateurs and assorted purveyors of expected conflicting information, do what people who need solid info do and some samples in if you are serious about it.

Dan

Posting from Europe so my comments may be worthless. These look very much like what we would call chafer grubs, the larvae of the Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata) or the Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha). The larvae of the Cockchafer, particularly, are considered pests here. I get Rose Chafer grubs in my containers and occasionally in the compost. These mainly eat humus and rotting wood but also roots of living plants as well, so far as I can see. Leaving them out for the birds is no good as they can burrow very fast. I remember putting some out on my lawn and they had disappeared (underground, not into a bird!) in less than five minutes. My verdict, FWIW, would be to have them ID'd by an expert but dispose of humanely in the meantime.