There can always be a surprise when digging up or planting beds. Unfortunately, if they're fat, white, maggot-looking animals, it's not a good one. Because these are most likely voracious pests, namely grubs.
White maggots are almost always grubs
What are grubs?
The larvae of certain beetle species, those of the genus Scarabaeoidea, are called grubs. The following species are most likely to be found in our gardens:
- cockchafer
- June beetle
- garden beetle
What all these beetles have in common is that they lay their eggs in the ground, where the hatching larvae feed on the roots of living plants. Above all, they are after grasses, which is why an infestation typically shows up in dying, easily detachable islands in the garden lawn. But they don't stop at many bedding plants either, strawberry, beet or lettuce roots taste good to them.
clear identification
You can recognize the harmful grubs by the following characteristics:
- about 4-6 cm long, garden chafer grubs about 1 cm long
- caterpillar-like segmentation
- c-shaped curved
- creamy white colour, darker head and abdomen
- 3 bent pairs of breastbones
countermeasures
Due to the significantly reduced occurrence of May and June beetles nowadays and the small size of garden chafers (and their grubs), the damage is actually not dramatic. However, to avoid unsightly spots in the lawn and individual crop failures, you can do the following:
Collect
Digging up the affected areas and collecting the guys manually is a very direct method.
use nematodes
The grubs can also be contained quite reliably with the help of predatory nematodes, which parasitize and kill the grubs.
Cases
A grub trap consists of a bucket filled with horse manure that you bury in the ground and leave there for a year. The grubs crawl in there and can then be removed together with the bucket.
insect protection nets
As a preventive measure, it is also worth stretching insect protection nets over the ground during the beetles' flight times to prevent them from laying eggs.