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Posted in Garden Worms Grub Worms Pest Worms

Grub Worms

Grub worms, with their white C-shaped bodies, are lawn pests that are difficult to eradicate. In the larvae, or grub stage, grub worms feast on the turf’s root system.

grubs in mulch
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Posted in Interesting Bugs

Grub Worms in Mulch Pile on Lawn

A reader wrote to us a few days ago about some large, plump white worms that he found in a mulch pile on his lawn. The reader thought they were grubs, which are often called “grub worms” or “grubworms” (even though they are actually larvae), but thought that they might be too big to be grubs, in part based on information he read on this website. The creatures our reader found are in fact quite large – they are about three inches (7.5 centimeters) long and one inch (2.5 centimeters) wide – but they nevertheless appear to be grubs. Did our reader find grubs in the mulch pile on his lawn, or are the creatures he found too big to be grubs?

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Posted in Garden Worms Grub Worms

Small White Worms in the Garden

We just wrote an article about small green worms in the garden, so it is fitting that our next question is quite similar: what are the small white worms you find in your garden? This question came up in an email from a reader in southwestern Colorado, where his garden is located. In his 27 years of gardening, he has never seen the recently discovered small white worms in his garden. (The reader put the point much better: “I’ve never seen the likes of this [the small white worms] in 27 years of gardening!”) This is quite the statement, making us curious about what our reader could have possibly found. What are these small white worms in the garden?

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Posted in Grub Worms

Small, Red Worms in Plants

A reader from Philadelphia wrote to us a while ago about some small, red worms he found in a “tree” (although the reader’s description suggested it was more like a bush). He said the worms looked a bit like earthworms, but that they were smaller, measuring about one or two inches in length. The reader also said the worms were thin. This is an instance where we really wish we had a picture. We are not only having difficulty imaging what this worm (or whatever it may be) looks like, but we also can’t picture the type of plant on which one of these creatures might be found. Based on what little we do know, it seems that our reader might have found grubworms (often spelled “grub worms,” and they are also known as “white grubs” or simply “grubs”). Grubworms are very common and are frequently found consuming plants, especially turfgrasses. We don’t know for sure if our reader found grubworms, but we can at least supply a little information about these common, plant-eating creatures.