When digging or creating a new bed, a lot of things can come to light - including unpleasant surprises in the form of whitish, fat, worm-like animals. These are not maggots, but other larvae that should be viewed critically.
What to do about maggots in the lawn?
Maggots in the lawn are usually grubs, larvae of May, June or garden beetles, which pose a danger to plant roots. Remove them by hand and use horse manure traps and predatory nematodes to control them over the long term.
What kind of ground dwellers are these?
If you come across small, whitish guys while digging up your garden lawn that you spontaneously classify as maggots, they probably have the following characteristics:
- Worm-like, caterpillar-like segmented appearance
- C-shaped curved
- 4-7 cm long
- Light, creamy white to yellowish color
- 3 bent sternum pairs
- Dark head and abdomen area
Can you tick all of these appearance characteristics? Then you are dealing with grubs. These are not maggots (maggots form a special group within the insect larvae), but the larvae of certain types of beetles. They are distinguished from maggots by the presence of a head capsule and leg limbs. If grubs live in the lawn, they most likely come from May, June or garden leaf beetles.
Are the animals harmful?
Yes, grubs of May, June and garden leaf beetles are classified as pests, in contrast to other grub species, such as those of rose and rhinoceros beetles. Because they feed on the roots of living plants, preferably grass roots. The result is stunted, yellowish islands in the lawn that can easily be removed. But grubs can also destroy the hobby gardener's crops underground in the vegetable patch.
What to do?
Collect by hand
To get rid of the grubs, you should first take simple, mechanical measures: The best thing to do is to thoroughly dig up the places where you have already found grubs and collect the whitish larvae by hand. Also check the rest of the garden for caring plants and dig there for any additional grubs. It can be helpful to water the soil when collecting. This drives the grubs upwards.
Long-term treatment
Direct collection is the most immediate measure. However, given the grubs' lifespan of several years, long-term action must be taken. Against this background, a trap in the form of a bucket filled with horse manure that you bury in the ground is useful. It strongly attracts the larvae and collects them over a year, so that they can then simply be removed from the ground along with the bucket.
In addition, the use of predatory nematodes, which parasitize and kill the larvae, is recommended.
