I have dug up several large 1.5inch long and thickness of a pencil
.........grubs of some kind

they are creamy colour but black towards the tail
head is light brown and there are 6/8 little feet up near the head

unless there is a Giant form of Vine weevil they definitely are not Vine
weevil I know exactly what those little nasties are like

On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:36:59 +0000 (UTC), "bnd777"
wrote:

I have dug up several large 1.5inch long and thickness of a pencil
........grubs of some kind

they are creamy colour but black towards the tail
head is light brown and there are 6/8 little feet up near the head

unless there is a Giant form of Vine weevil they definitely are not Vine
weevil I know exactly what those little nasties are like

Stag beetle larvae??
Usually found in rotten wood though.
Have they got any nasty looking jaws?

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

'bnd777',

What about this little blighter?

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/insects/g1085.htm

Regards,
Emrys Davies.




"bnd777" wrote in message
...
I have dug up several large 1.5inch long and thickness of a pencil
........grubs of some kind

they are creamy colour but black towards the tail
head is light brown and there are 6/8 little feet up near the head

unless there is a Giant form of Vine weevil they definitely are not
Vine
weevil I know exactly what those little nasties are like

Or caterpillar of Silver Y moth

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Thanks Emrys ........thats the little bugger
Now I know whats killing patches of grass
Will have to discover which insecticide to use now


" Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...
'bnd777',

What about this little blighter?

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/insects/g1085.htm

Regards,
Emrys Davies.




"bnd777" wrote in message
...
I have dug up several large 1.5inch long and thickness of a pencil
........grubs of some kind

they are creamy colour but black towards the tail
head is light brown and there are 6/8 little feet up near the head

unless there is a Giant form of Vine weevil they definitely are not
Vine
weevil I know exactly what those little nasties are like

'bnd777',

Your difficulty now is that if you drench the soil with an insecticide
to kill the grubs you will kill all other forms of life in the soil,
including earth worms.

Chlorpyrifos http://www.dowagro.com/chlorp/about/pests/grubs.htm,
which is a name which I have just come across, is claimed to be
effective in dealing with your problem, but I know nothing about it,
whatsoever.

Over the years my lawn I has had its fair share of leatherjackets
http://www.greengardener.co.uk/details.htm (scroll)
but these are mostly eradicated by a flock of starlings.

Another very effective way of ridding my lawn of leatherjackets was to
water an area of the lawn and place a large piece of black material such
as heavy duty plastic or even a cut open bin liner over the dampened
area and the grubs came to the surface overnight.

For this method to succeed it is important that no light penetrates the
covered area so it is best to weigh down the edges of your material with
boards or similar.

Whether your scarab beetle larvae will respond to the above treatment in
a matter of conjecture, but you may think that it is worth a try.

Good luck,

Regards,
Emrys Davies.







"bnd777" wrote in message
...
Thanks Emrys ........thats the little bugger
Now I know whats killing patches of grass
Will have to discover which insecticide to use now


" Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...
'bnd777',

What about this little blighter?

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/insects/g1085.htm

Regards,
Emrys Davies.




"bnd777" wrote in message
...
I have dug up several large 1.5inch long and thickness of a pencil
........grubs of some kind

they are creamy colour but black towards the tail
head is light brown and there are 6/8 little feet up near the head

unless there is a Giant form of Vine weevil they definitely are
not
Vine
weevil I know exactly what those little nasties are like

"bnd777" wrote in message ...
Thanks Emrys ........thats the little bugger
Now I know whats killing patches of grass
Will have to discover which insecticide to use now

Badgers will do the job for you but the 'cure' is much worse than the original problem. Rooks like the grubs and do a
bit less damage than the badgers

Rod

Problem is theres not been any Rooks in our area and the horeshoe shape of
dead grass has already been replaced once but is again dead


"Rod" wrote in message
...

"bnd777" wrote in message
...
Thanks Emrys ........thats the little bugger
Now I know whats killing patches of grass
Will have to discover which insecticide to use now

Badgers will do the job for you but the 'cure' is much worse than the
original problem. Rooks like the grubs and do a
bit less damage than the badgers

Rod

"bnd777" wrote in message ...
Problem is theres not been any Rooks in our area and the horeshoe shape of
dead grass has already been replaced once but is again
dead

We've got the same problem, there really aren't any pesticides I would be prepared to use on a lawn so I'm afraid it's a
case of living with it and trying to keep up with repairs. I believe greenkeepers have a few shots in their locker but
they're pretty nasty materials I wouldn't touch with a bargepole and only available to pros anyway. Keep us posted if
you find a solution.

Rod

Well to start with I am going to dig out the sections quite deeply and hope
to find the beasties and treat with Chloryphos or pirimiphos methyl as
suggested ........then in July/aug I will use the nematode
I have no option but to take drastic measures as cant disguise the mess of
the lawn or replace it with a flower bed
"Rod" wrote in message
...

"bnd777" wrote in message
...
Problem is theres not been any Rooks in our area and the horeshoe shape
of
dead grass has already been replaced once but is again
dead

We've got the same problem, there really aren't any pesticides I would be
prepared to use on a lawn so I'm afraid it's a
case of living with it and trying to keep up with repairs. I believe
greenkeepers have a few shots in their locker but
they're pretty nasty materials I wouldn't touch with a bargepole and only
available to pros anyway. Keep us posted if
you find a solution.

Rod