Nasty thing in the soil
 

I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type things.
They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly. They had a
small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts had devoured a
majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots

The roots?! That type of nasturtium has tubers.

Nasty thing in the soil
 

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots

The roots?! That type of nasturtium has tubers.

They had scoffed the hairy root bits coming off the long tubers.

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
They had scoffed the hairy root bits coming off the long tubers.

I've had lots of wireworms this year in only one section of my spuds
crop. I wonder ...

Nasty thing in the soil
 

In reply to Rupert (W.Yorkshire) ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Many legged millipede type things are often millipedes. Are you sure they
weren't? Were they semi-transparent (translucent) or coloured in any way?

Nasty thing in the soil
 

"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" wrote in message
...
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type things.
They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly. They had a
small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts had devoured a
majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

These chaps ?

http://www.gaipm.org/top50/wireworms.html

Although they only have three pairs of legs each, if there are
enough of them all gathered together in one place, it might
resemble a mass of legs.

michael adams

....

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly billions
of Symphids in the UK too.

--

John

Nasty thing in the soil
 

"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly billions
of Symphids in the UK too.

That's thing I thought he saw. Translucent, so you can see the alimentary
..... yeuk. Isn't a millipede a symphid?

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Uncle Marvo wrote:
"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly
billions of Symphids in the UK too.

That's thing I thought he saw. Translucent, so you can see the
alimentary .... yeuk. Isn't a millipede a symphid?

No they are different classes of the superclass Myriapoda.

Diplopoda = millipedes
Centipedes = chilopoda
Symphylids = symphyla

--

John

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Bioboffin wrote:
Uncle Marvo wrote:


That's thing I thought he saw. Translucent, so you can see the
alimentary .... yeuk. Isn't a millipede a symphid?

No they are different classes of the superclass Myriapoda.

Diplopoda = millipedes
Centipedes = chilopoda
Symphylids = symphyla

Let's try that again:

Diplopoda = millipedes
Chilopoda = centipedes
Symphyla = symphilids

:-)

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Uncle Marvo wrote:
In reply to Bioboffin ) who wrote this
in , I, Marvo, say :

Uncle Marvo wrote:
"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly
quickly. They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the
little beasts had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly
billions of Symphids in the UK too.

That's thing I thought he saw. Translucent, so you can see the
alimentary .... yeuk. Isn't a millipede a symphid?

No they are different classes of the superclass Myriapoda.

Diplopoda = millipedes
Centipedes = chilopoda
Symphylids = symphyla

Ah. Still yeuk.

Centipedes are desirable in the garden, because they are carnivores and eat
the herbivores (which are eating the plants). I guess some Symphylids are
too.

Nasty thing in the soil
 

In reply to Bioboffin ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Uncle Marvo wrote:
"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly
quickly. They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the
little beasts had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly
billions of Symphids in the UK too.

That's thing I thought he saw. Translucent, so you can see the
alimentary .... yeuk. Isn't a millipede a symphid?

No they are different classes of the superclass Myriapoda.

Diplopoda = millipedes
Centipedes = chilopoda
Symphylids = symphyla

Ah. Still yeuk.

Nasty thing in the soil
 

"michael adams" wrote in message
...

"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" wrote in message
...
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type things.
They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly. They had a
small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts had devoured a
majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

These chaps ?

http://www.gaipm.org/top50/wireworms.html

Although they only have three pairs of legs each, if there are
enough of them all gathered together in one place, it might
resemble a mass of legs.

michael adams

...
Perhaps-but the bodies were much thinner--almost as thin as cotton.
I suppose it depends on their age--we all fill out a bit as we get older.

Nasty thing in the soil
 

"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly billions
of Symphids in the UK too.

--

John
Not certain -but the bodies of the things I saw were like threads of cotton.
I suppose they could be the very young ones.
I admit with deep shame that I was that alarmed that I dropped the trowel
and the plant. When or if I find more I will get a photo before I squash
them

Nasty thing in the soil
 

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
I dug up a tropaeolum ciliatum
that was withering and near death.
The roots were covered in small white thread like millipede type
things. They were about 1/2 inch long and could move fairly quickly.
They had a small head and many pairs of legs and the little beasts
had devoured a majority of the roots.
An ideas what this pest is??

Could they be Symphilids? See link:

http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/symphyla.php

Although this link is for a New Zealand site, there are certainly
billions of Symphids in the UK too.

--

John
Not certain -but the bodies of the things I saw were like threads of
cotton. I suppose they could be the very young ones.
I admit with deep shame that I was that alarmed that I dropped the
trowel and the plant. When or if I find more I will get a photo
before I squash them

They are not that easy to identify - you really need a microscope.