Help! I have HUGE larvae in my beds!

[Theresa Baker]

They are greyish in color, sectioned and some are almost as large as my thumb!! (I am a woman). I have no idea what they are, and so don't know if they are responsible for the almost instantaneous mowing down of seedlings I plant.

Any ideas? They are pointed on each end, no visible head. I will try and get a picture of them. They are nasty looking. Thanks sooo much.

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Theresa,

You're right, a picture will help. Could be a butterfly or moth larvae.

[Bob Terrell]

About the size of your thumb, dark brown then turning to a light cream color?

[Bob Terrell]

[George]

fish food

[Bob Terrell]

Theresa, best guess is they are Cicada larva, they start off white, then turn brown at one end as they develop a head.  They are not bad eating if you roast them over a hot fire.  If you don't want to eat them, softly dig through your soil and try to remove as many as you can find and as George said, feed to your fish.

[Bob Terrell]

But does the Rhino Beetle live in Wa?  I know the Cicada does. hmmmmm  off the the internet to research.

Randall Wimbish said:

There is one larvae larger that yours Bob it is the Rhinoserous Beetle that lives in compost piles for a few years before turning into the worlds strongest beetle.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

C'mon guys..."pointed on each end, no visible head...mowing down of seedlings..."...my money is on the the dreaded cutworm...

They are not that huge though (all things being relative and subjective)...They only reach a couple inches in length. June bug larva on the other hand, now that's what I'd call a huge (and pretty ugly) larva

[Bob Terrell]

Guess we will know more if she can get us a picture, I bet then it will take 30 seconds to identify.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

You know what they say...a picture is worth a thousand words...

[George]

If cutworms:

1.  Stalk them at night with flashlight or

2.  Flood bed completely submerging gravel - they'll quickly come to the top

One or two cutworms can do a surprising amount of damage.  They're night workers.  

[Theresa Baker]

I now see that there does appear to be a head... or a big MOUTH at one end. Sorry for the mis-info.  ICK. I never see them during the day, so maybe they are cutworms. We certainly have those here. I Discovered them when digging deep in my beds to remove old plant roots.  

I just discovered that all of your thoughtful replies were in my SPAM folder. Sorry for the late response. I fixed  it. I am heading out there tonight with a flashlight. Whatever it is-seems to leave larger plants (month-old lettuce) alone. At first I thought it was slugs, but I was only able to trap a couple, pretty slug-free so far in the greenhouse this spring. 

Thanks again, SO appreciate.

[Bob Terrell]

NO DOUBT in my mind that is a CUTWORM larva.   Now go attack them with a flashlight and flooding.