Identify these larvae / bugs please?

[J.V.]

Rooks & crows, they love 'em. They dig up the school's playing field to get at them, turn it into a horrible scruffy mess

- I was thinking of something a little smaller and less destructive!

(couldn't tell where my 'lawn' was damaged - it looks like a horrible scruffy mess all over!)

[Two_Sheds]

Yeah, nematodes then: Leatherjacket lawn damage, Nemasys nematode pest control - nemasysinfo.co.uk

[kathyd]

Well then the conscensus of opinion does seem to be leatherjackets doesn't it? So thank you for that anyway. I think! Now to get rid of them. I suspect that the area will be too big to use nematodes to be honest - the garden itself isn't huge, it's about 3/4 acre, but most of it borders farmland where cattle graze and has been left unattended for a few years before we bought it. My bit of fieldy thing is full of wild flowers (weeds??) which I'm loathe to lose completely, I want to try to plant amongst and around them (although I have a feeling I'll decide to be a bit selective now I'm seeing the size and spread of some of their roots, and how fast they can crawl!). I'm also keen to encourage biodiversity, but again suspect I'll be fighting a losing battle with my fruit and veg if I don't toughen up a bit - I've never seen so many different bugs, and I don't recognise most of them, but it's fascinating! I spend longer oooing and ahhing and looking things up in my book than I do gardening some days .

Anyway, I'm going to expose the larvae to the birds today, along with the chafer grubs and anything I can find that I don't trust the look of. And then if I get desperate in the spring I'll look into nematodes maybe.

Regarding nematodes... I do worry about introducing things like this to be honest, but maybe that's because I don't know enough about them. We just seem to have had all sorts of problems in the past by bringing various beasties and plants into our countryside and upsetting the natural balance, wouldn't it be possible for nematodes to cause problems too? I'm a bit the same with things like ground source heating - if we take away the heat from the ground, won't we change the ground temperature and affect what can grow and live there over time? Not that I'm paranoid or anything...

[Aberdeenplotter]

Thats a pic of leatherjackets found online. They look totally different from the maggots/larvae in your original post and I'm almost certain that these are not leatherjackets. A heavy infestation is shown on an agricultural site I looked at as more than 100 per meter. You have that number in a few inches. Having said that though, turning them out to the birds for an autumn treat is probably the best remedy. Ever thought of getting a few hens?

[kathyd]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]26397[/ATTACH] Ever thought of getting a few hens?

Hi Aberdeenplotter

I have a few hens! I've had them about 4 or 5 weeks now, and they're getting nicely settled in. However,I've only just started inviting them into the garden (they have quite a big grass run) because I've had problems getting them back in again if I want to go out, and next door's dog chases them even if the foxes and buzzards leave them alone.. The only time I let them on the veggie patch they started to scratch up all my phacelia green manure, and I was worried they'd work their way down to the asparagus bed and damage the roots. So that's out of bounds until I work out how to protect things that I don't want them destroying. But the bugs in question are in another part of the garden, with no fencing, open to the (small) road on one side and the farmer's field with electric fences (and buzzards) on the other 2. So again I need to get it enclosed before I can let the chicks up there. Can't afford fencing at the moment, so it'll be a while yet I think .

[Two_Sheds]

Regarding nematodes... I do worry about introducing things like this ... upsetting the natural balance

Nematodes occur naturally, they are a normal part of nature's food chain

out of bounds until I work out how to protect things that I don't want them destroying.

A moveable chicken ark would do that for you

[kathyd]

Hi Two Sheds

I realise nematodes are natural, but then so are grey squirrels and Japanese Bindweed... there's just something about introducing something to somewhere that it isn't already that worries me.

My chickens are semi free ranging, so I'd not want to confine them to an ark really. I suspect I'll end up stringing bits of chicken wire across out of bounds areas or something, and confuse the poor dog even further .

[veggiechicken]

Whatever they are, dig them up and feed them to your chooks. Gets rid of a few (grubs)

[J.V.]

Hmm... I haven't needed to try this yet myself, but it is said that you can clear them from a smallish area by watering the ground and covering with a sheet - after some time they will come to the surface and you can peel back the sheet and pick them up - or leave your chickens a treat

[mrbadexample]

Try posting here. They haven't let me down yet.

Edit: In fact, if you look here there's a very similar-looking mass of larvae, IDd as March fly larvae, Bibionidae.

[kathyd]

Thanks all - I've looked at the images of march flies and you're right, they do look the same. Which means I need to get rid of them asap! I've heard there's been a bit of a plague of biting flies this year here in Brittany, some say the worst for years, and if all these larvae hatch out it won't get any better next year... So I'm declaring war, and the battle will start tomorrow!

[Two_Sheds]

I realise nematodes are natural, but then so are grey squirrels and Japanese Bindweed... there's just something about introducing something to somewhere that it isn't already that worries me.

What I meant was, they do occur naturally in the soil anyway. We're just able to buy them in and target them at a problem, in the same way we can buy other beneficial creatures like ladybirds or bees

[Two_Sheds]

IDd as March fly larvae, Bibionidae.

I need to get rid of them asap! I've heard there's been a bit of a plague of biting flies this year

Bibionid (St Marks or Fever Flies) don't bite, they're just annoying if you cycle through a swarm of them: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcspri...7626420884073/

[kathyd]

Hi Two Sheds

I know St Marks flies don't bite, we had loads in the orchard last year and I checked them out at the time. But when I followed the link from mrbadexample there seemed to be loads of different flies in that family, some of which do bite... horse flies for one. Now I don't know whether to kill them or not! If they're just St Mark's flies, they're probably useful in pollinating the orchard fruits and they won't do any harm. But if they're naughty biting flies, I definitely don't want them around!!

[oldie]

I would not spend any more time worrying as to whether they are good or bad- just get rid of them. Simples.