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?

I am a virgin gardener too. And like you, was digging up grass and weeds in the spot where I have planned to plant my veggies. I found a ton of the Japanese beetle grub worms. Of course I immediately Google info on grub worms and now I am horrified at some of the stories I've found online. Now I just really don't know what to do. There's no way I can dig them all up and squash them all! I mean I found at least 30-40 in an area about 7ft by 5ft. Any advice on how to kill them in less than a month before I plant my veggies??? Or am I screwed? Please respond.

Scott will correct me if I am wrong with this ID, but if they are in a tree and they have red-heads, then they are red-headed webworms. The only other worms I commonly see in mimosa trees are mimosa webworms but I don't think they have red heads. If the trees are quite large, as the term "up high in our mimosa trees" implies, the worms likely will not do enough damage to really harm the tree, although their web-like nests combined with dead foliage can be quite unsightly. Large trees can lose lots of leaves to worms and not be severely affected long-term in terms of health or survival. If the worms are so high that you cannot reach them easily, there is nothing you can do about them. If they were in a young, small tree, I'd recommend removing the nest by breaking it open with a stick, shovel, rake or pruning pole. That webbed nest protects the caterpillars from birds and wasps that prey upon them so removing it leaves them open to predation. Some people prune out tree limbs that have the webbing on it, but I'd only do that if it was a limb that needed to be removed anyway for other reasons. Scott can (and hopefully will) tell you if what you're seeing is their first or second generation. It seems to me it is the first by the timing of its apperance, but I'm not sure. We had mimosa trees when I was a kid and the webworms never did enough damage to hurt them. Sometimes they will move to other trees, and those trees would vary depending on whether you have fall webworms or mimosa webworms. Here in southern OK, the mimosa webworms are most often found on honey locust trees. I most often see fall webworms on pecan trees, but they can be found on others. If you want to see an image of red-headed fall webworms or mimosa webworms you can find one by googling. However, caterpillars like webworms often come in different color variations and shadings so the image you find online might not match precisely what you're seeing in your trees.

I'm also finding grubs in the soil when digging holes too, but I've never had plants die from them. Right now I'm seeing little holes in the lawn where beetles are emerging although I've only seen one beetle so far, a hoplia beetle and it was on a rose. Hoplia beetles buzz around the roses on warm afternoons, land in a blossom, especially on light colored roses and eat the petals. It is then that they lay eggs and it's time to apply beneficial nematodes. Or the grubs may be from 'June bugs' which you'll find around porch lights. Either way, when you see them flying it's time to apply the nematodes, which are much more effective than insecticides and safer as well. I've had very good results by using beneficial nematodes in years past and saw VERY few beetles or grubs the year after using it. Only one generation a year are produced so all the grubs will be pupating and then hatching soon, and the next generation of grubs will live over winter to emerge next spring and summer. It's easy to hand pick hoplia beetles off roses also and is also recommended. I don't want to frighten you, but our dearly beloved dog, Skippy, died after I used an insecticide on the lawn for grubs according to directions. I watered it in well, kept her inside for the hours specified, but we found her dead a few hours after letting her out. She was 14 years old, but was in good health and a breed that commonly lives into their late teens and even twenties, a Schipperke. I can't remember the name of the insectacide. I remember it started with a 'B' and was commonly sold for lawns. This was several years ago, but that's when I stopped using all insecticides. It just isn't worth the risk to the health of animals and humans, no matter what they say about it being safe. I've found organic methods of integrated pest management to be MUCH more effective anyway. I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it.