Jeanneclaire Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 In my manure patch there are a number of large fat white grubs probably 4cm long. What will they turn into? Should I be leaving them alone or feeding them to the birds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Almost certainly stag beetle larvae - so leave them as they are garden goodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanneclaire Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 I will certainly leave them, even if they are rather fearsome things. I witnessed an amusing incident with a stag beetle a few years ago. One was seen on a 207 bus in Ealing; we all watched it with some trepidation as it wandered about. Eventually somebody picked it up and put it off the bus (hope it was the right stop!) An elderly lady was heard to exclaim to her fellow passenger: "You get all sorts of strange things with these foreigners coming over here"Even I knew that the stag beetle is an indigenous species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Cockchafer grubs are also big and white and like the bottom of manure heaps.[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i26/cassiscassis/wildlife/7032253.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 So what should one do about those cockshafer bugs? I always have LOADS at the bottom of my compost - they look like they could do a lot of damage to roots if they get to the vegetable patch. Are they OK, or are they really bad? What are their predators?I asked my French neighbour (an old farmer and keen vegetable gardener) - gallic shrug is all the answer I got.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 They do a lot of damage to plant roots - that is what they eat. I kill them by hand when I dig them up or put them on the bird table, but you can get chemical insecticides for them. There is also a bait I have seen for them. I don't know how effective each of these chemical methods of disposal are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Hi folks, if you have a look at this http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/544141/ShowPost.aspx it may help? My knowledge of cockchafers is noted at the end of the thread!!I am not sure that they are cockchafer, but they could well be rose chafer. Cockcahfer don't get into compost bins normaly. The rose chafer beetle is the beutiful metalic green beetles that you see on the top of your compost sometimes. They don't really do a lot of damage as the cockchafers do.Chemicals,,, NO WAY. Use nematodes. They are minute worms that you can buy. Too small for the eye to see. Just mix them with water and water them in. They find and kill the cockchafer grubs and do no other harm. Chemicals kill EVERYTHING!!If you are interested in keeping the French way of gardening with chemicals out of yur garden this might interest also http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/biocontrol.htm . It is a very interesting site and should be of help with the bug gers to find the bugs they don't want?Not sure why the links don't come up 'clickable' but if you copy them into the address bar they work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Not cockchafer in a compost heap, cockchafer are a grub that uses grassland and will often be found in new gardens that have been either overgrown or grassed.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 I remember stag beetle grubs seem to look similar to the chafer grubs, from when i was identifying some in the spring.Recently i have found some grubs similar to picture above in a large water trough i have had filled with earth for lettuce. The beetle that i saw living in there during the summer was a metallic gold colour........don't know what it is called, so i assume that all beetle grubs look similar??Louise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 [quote user="chris pp"]Not cockchafer in a compost heap, cockchafer are a grub that uses grassland and will often be found in new gardens that have been either overgrown or grassed.Chris[/quote]However, I've definitely found them under a manure (not compost) heap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 http://maria.fremlin.de/stagbeetles/larva-guide/index.html I hope this is the right link, having a few problems with my system this evening (computer that is). Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Look at the size of the grub at the bottom of this page [+o(]GrubsLouise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanneclaire Posted October 31, 2006 Author Share Posted October 31, 2006 Looks to me like mine are rose chafers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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