Good? Bad? or just Ugly? Compost Critters

[F1520]

Here in NJ, I have found the ones in the left pic (the bigger ones) inside fallen trees that are still sound enough to burn for firewood. They sure are ugly close up!

They'll be Junebugs, huh? That's interesting. They definitely are big enough! :laughing:

 

[/pine]

In FL we start seeing "June Bugs" before the end of March that are barely 3/16"...hard to believe such a big larve produces such a small bug...?

 

[Redgoatea]

People are known to eat the ones on the left. Say they taste like custard.

Who are these people and how do I avoid getting invited over for dinner?? :laughing:

 

[Taylortractornut]

Them look like the videls at the China Palace Buffet here lol. Those grubs on the left look like the ones that turn into the cicada bugs that climb up onto the trees and leave a skin. A freind of mine wanted to go to a new Chinese buffet that opened here. They had a soup/cassarole they had there. I wouldnt eat anything just went in and he was having a bite of this stuff. About that time a grub fell off his spoon and onto the table. Looked like picture one. Talk about someone turning green lol.

 

[Jstpssng]

In FL we start seeing "June Bugs" before the end of March that are barely 3/16"...hard to believe such a big larve produces such a small bug...?

It must be a different animal than what we call June Bugs here, ours are brown, about an inch long & rather hard skinned. They also are rather nocturnal & attracted to light.
Pics and more can be found here;

http://organicgardensite.com/bugs-harmful/june-bugs/

 

[Jstpssng]

Who are these people and how do I avoid getting invited over for dinner?? :laughing:

i could be mistaken, but I believe those are the people so many of our goods & services are outsourced to; Hey, they've gotta eat SOMETHING! :laughing:

:licking::thumbdown:

 

[/pine]

It must be a different animal than what we call June Bugs here, ours are brown, about an inch long & rather hard skinned....

I think you are probably right...although the little ones I see look identical to the larger ones I'm familiar with...but with 260 different species...???
8 mm is about 5/16" which could be what I see...

Phyllophaga (genus) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

when we were kids we would catch full sized June bugs and tie a silk thread around them ...it was a riot... like a little airplane on a string...!

 

[patrick_g]

I too am not an entomologist but I have a good friend who has a PhD in entomology and he says not to worry about the bugs in your compost pile, they are OK. Also, edible doesn't mean delectable but then I think we already knew that before Doctor David told us.

Bear Grylls would eat them raw, cooked, dried, ...

Patrick

 

[txdon]

OK, With your help and looking in the "Texas Bug Book" and Google images and some pictures I have taken of beetles I beleive I have figured it out. Both larvae are beneficial to the compost pile and the flies and beetles are also beneficial so no action is needed!

The large larvae on the left are jewel rhinoceros beetle larvae. I have taken a picture of one of our jewel rhinoceros beetles below.

The larvae on the right are black soldier fly larvae. The soldier fly is seen often in that compost pile. It contains the freshest table scrapes. They are the enemy of the common house fly.

 

[mx5guy]

On the left June Bug larvae, ok in a compost pile but up here in Ontario the larvae eat grass roots so kill lawns, and skunks will dig up your lawn hunting for them lawn damage, they seems to be in a 4 year cycle , 3 as larvae and a month or so in June as an adult, adult is a large brown beetle the size on the end of a man痴 thumb, and just annoying, can be a noisy pest, and what i mean by a cycle is we have them every June, but every 4 year their numbers increase 10 fold.