This is what I read somewhere: It is thier normal life cycle. They burrow after mating then you do not see any beetles until next year. The newborn beetle larva/grubs are destructive and chew on vegetable roots. I imagine they do loosen and enrich the soil a bit while doing this though. The article mentioned turning the soil during winter so the grubs (eggs?) are closer to the surface and the freezing temps will kill some off. I am in NC and I picked a lot of beetles off my plants this morning. I seem to remember from last year it was right around this time in summer when they disappeared to lay eggs and all my green beans, blackberry and turnip leaves were spared from their endless chewing. As a side note I experimented with some anti-beetle strategies. In the morning I knock them off into a cup then dump them into a bucket with soapy water. The soapy water has a lower surface tension so they sink below the surface and drown. You have to get them in the morning because later in the day they will fly off if disturbed. In the morning they just fall off into your cup when you tap the leaves they are on. Another interesting method is to use a hand held dust buster style vacuum and suck them off the leaves. This works ok too but the cup method is easier and more effective for me.

I haven't seen her drag a cicada in the hole yet, but I did sit and watch her dig. Fascinating creature. I see it hovering around sometimes when I go to get the mail. I have to admit it freaked me out when first saw it. They are ginormous, I had visions in my head of giant bees building their hives all over my yard. It's never once seemed aggressive. I figure it isn't bothering me so no reason to bother it. I hear they are attracted to well drained soil. We haven't had a lot of rain this summer so it makes sense. Though that is my flower bed so I may keep it somewhat moist in the future to try and convince them them to make their home elsewhere. The dirt mounds aren't that visually appealing.

Whatever it was burrows, I think. Today I went out there and whatever it was did the same thing, just above where I had built the dirt up. Next to the plant was a half inch in diameter hole and I am going to assume that is what is causing me problems. I have a pic but I haven't figured our how to post it yet :)

Thanks again! I was only really confused about the vastly different feeding instructions sent to me with the worms from what I had read, I really have no intention of feeding them meats or dairy because I don't personally eat either so I have no scraps around. I was just unsure about how much to really trust the instructions. I had put some moldy bread in there the first day and I added some mushy fruit. I still have some guys hanging around in the empty part but I'll see what happens. I have the bedding wet but not sopping, dripping wet. I was afraid them might drown if there was too much water. Should the bedding be drippy or just wet? I can certainly add more water, and there are drainage holes on the bottom of the bin, I'm just not really sure where the line is between properly wet and swimming. lol I had read a lot about them before I set it up but most of what I read warned against being too wet. I added the moldy bread when I read on here that they fed on bacteria and I also wet the bread the down with the bedding so it was fairly mushy. I threw in the mushy fruit in the hopes we'd make friends. :) You're all so helpful! Thanks a bunch!