can you geta pic of the bugs?

Here is an image of one of them. Was roughly 80mm long.

http://i56.tinypic.com/2me5uus.jpg

i am not sure what kind og grub that is, but i am going to go with, they are NOT good! they feed on the roots. so i would sart picking them out till someone on here can chime in on how to kill them.

ERic

I figured that they were harmful, but yeah, what I now need is a recommendation on the best way to get rid of them.

click this link it will help give you optiions to choose from. there is a strain of BT(most well know for Mosquito dunks) but its not the same strain. that works on caterpillars/grubs. if you go to a nusery they will point you in the right direction, just remember not to get the stuff for mosquitos as it will not work.

Eric

Here is a link that might be useful: killing the white grubs

Well, stop for a minute and consider this: They're not grubs.

well Jean, if they are not grubs, then what are they and how does this guy get rid of them? its not much help to jump in and say "they re not grubs"

Yeah, if I can get some help identifying what they are, then I can go from there, but this is my first year growing, and I am pretty sure that the plant is struggling because of these, as I have another fatalli plant that is thriving.

i would try my suggestion as it wont hurt you or the plant, and well if the bugs dont die then you know to try something else! you can try to dig up as many as possible, but also the longer you wait to try something the closer your plant will come to death. so i would try my suggestion and see if it works! good luck keep us updated!

Eric

Well, it's like this -- I recognized that they're not grubs (larvae of scarab beetles) thus I thought it wise to figure out what they are in order to devise an effective strategy.

I don't grow peppers, so am unfamiliar with their common pests, especially in Michigan where I've never lived.

It could be useful for OP to visit the county Extension Service office, or perhaps they can deal with this by phone or email.

People can locate their county Extension Service office with this clickable map from the USDA: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

Here is a link that might be useful: locate your county's Extension Service office

Hahaha, in other words, dial 911.

Seriously though, I would get something on that soil soon. IF all else fails, just get a good all around pesticide and if possible, one that lists grubs and put that down. I would suggest the good ole' standby, a shotgun but that might dammage the roots.
Bruce

HAHAHAHAH@ Bruce, you and your shotgun! i understand what you are saying Jean, but he needs to start trying to rid the soil of whatever those white root eating bastages are! i was trying to give the guy an idea to try while he may research options before he wakes up and the plant is dead!

jean001a,

No disrespect intended, but if you don't grow peppers why are you part of this discussion?

All I can say is I have never seen an inaccurate post by Jean. He/She may not grow peppers, but, is an experienced gardener and usually has good advise.

If it were my garden, I'd want to be a little more certain of what I was doing before dumping a bunch of pesticides on it in a Hail Mary attempt to get rid of something that I didn't even know what it was. Particularly if it was just one plant.

I appreciate all of the feedback, I will look in to the Extension Service suggestion. The leaves are looking worse and worse, daily, although more peppers are appearing.

I gotta tell ya, it LOOKS like a maggot to me.

Are you growing in pots?

What kind of soil are you using?

Any dead animals buried in them? lol

Think kind of reminds me of soil gnats but your larvae are much bigger. I came across a forum that was dealing with these. Below is a copy of a post that looks useful. Maybe this can help you.
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If you have an infestation you're going to need to take a few steps to get the populations down considerably.

First step is to just grab a vacuum and suck those on top to a dusty end. Vacuum around the pots, near the soil surface... where ever you see them. It is best to do this while watering. When you flood the soil surface they are going to fly up in an effort to not be drowned; but you'll be waiting there with the vacuum on and the nozzle ready to take them away.

Mosquito Dunks or Bacillus thuringiensis isreali (Bti) is a natural bacterium that produces a larvacide which is toxic only to a handful of species of insect larvae including fungus gnats and mosquitoes. It is widely available in compressed circular pucks under the brand name Mosquito Dunks, sold in most home improvement centers. They also sell Mosquito Bits, which is the same thing and other brand is Gnatrol but these products are usually less available. If you get dunks you use them by soaking in a bucket of water over night and irrigating. This should kill most of the larvae.

Then of course you should have yellow sticky traps around and Safer brand or Gnat-Stix sticky traps in the containers. But it is hard to bring absolute elimination if you have a lot of plants, house plants, etc. Biological controls are really the best. I recently noticed herds of microarthropods (Hypoaspis I suspect) in my organic soil and consequently gnat populations have dwindled fantastically.
__________________________________________________________
Lowes carries some of these dunks.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_92460-1643-MODU1_?PL=1&productId=3047384

I hope you get this cleared up and save your play! Good luck.

I am growing in pots, yes, but I am sure there is nothing dead in them. I don't know the soil off the top of my head (I used some stuff that my roommate had). In the meantime, I have been flushing them up to the surface with water and then removing by hand. They seem to be gone in the original plant, and are now appearing in a different pot.

Definitely looks like some kind of fly larvae to me. They are likely not causing any harm to your plants. Do you have any compost in your soil? Or was the soil some kind of cheap "organic" soil. The fly larvae are likely feeding on decaying plant material that has not yet been fully decomposed, often times "organic" soils contain organic matter that has not been fully decomposed, this can harm your plants as well.

It was asked "but if you don't grow peppers why are you part of this discussion?"

Because I know insect ID. And teach it. And have taught it for years.

well en if you "know" insect ID then why did you not tell the poor guy what is in his soil?

Looks to me to be fly larvae, because grubs/beetle larvae have legs. It appears to be something like a cluster fly, which lay their eggs in soil, near earthworms, where the larvae can then parasitize the worms. They pose no threat to your plants directly, although because they kill worms, you may feel like they indirectly harm them.

Joe