Queen palm's got bugs

[edric]

Removing old petiole bases I found these buggers, should I worry? Ed

[MattyB]

They look like the grubs I get in my mulched areas. If they are then they'll just eat old, rotting leafbase material until they hatch into beetles. Do you have the big green Japanese beetles in Florida? That's what lays those around here. I've never heard of any problems from grubs other than sometimes if you get a lot in a lawn they'll make dead spots.

[Gonzer]

Uh oh.

[edric]

Thanks Matty, I don't know about the beetles, but I'm glad the grubs only eat old stuff, that's what I kinda thought, glad I asked though, Ed

[Palmə häl′ik]

MattyB, from Cali's on it.

You know those damn beetles that're flying into the streetlights, and outdoor lights at night...

Those grubs turn into those beetles...

I find 'em whenever I'm diggin' too...

~Ray.

[Gonzer]

They do look like the grub of the green fruit beetle. Tie a lightweight string to one and fly 'em around, impressing your friends! Japanese beetles are often confused with these guys, often called June bugs, but are brown and smaller and inhabit mainly turf areas.

[palmislandRandy]

I've never seen these anywhere else except in soil, under turf grass. They feed on plant roots.

[DoomsDave]

As Matty and others point out, those grubs are detritivores that eat dead stuff, which helps clean up the place and turn your dead stuff into compost.

The beetles themselves are quite spectacular, about an inch long, shiny green, shaped exactly like my Boy Scout Canteen, with wings and legs. THey're called Green June Bugs, Figeaters, Green Fruit Beetles, etc.

Here's a picture:

The beetles fly like mini troop transports of doom, but they don't cause the damage to leaves and plants that some beetles do. This species is native to California and Mexico. It has a cousin, called the May Beetle, in the eastern US.

They are related to, but not the same as the infamous Japanese Beetle, native to Japan (Duh!) and common in the eastern U.S., but not in the west.

Japanese beetles are much smaller than the Green Fruities above (about .25 inches), but they're infamous because they descend like a plague on any green edible plant. When they're abundant, they'll skeletonize roses, apples, and about 250 other kinds of plants.

[edric]

Thanks fellas, I took a scrap piece of nine wire and scurried 11 of those buggers, and tossed them in the woods, Ed

[BS Man about Palms]

Those are what the raccoon's that tear up my mulched yard are looking for!

[GeneAZ]

They are really great for Bass fishing.

Gene

[Gonzer]

Andrew Zimmern sez they taste just like chicken!

[MattyB]

Chicken with dirt inside.

[tjwalters]

Chicken with dirt inside.

I toss any I find while working in the yard into a big plant saucer and the birds - usually robins or mockingbirds - come and grab them. One year a mockingbird became so accustomed getting the handouts, whenever it saw me working in the yard it would fly down and perch on the wheelbarrow handle to wait for the tasty ( ) treats.

[malcthomas]

They look pretty much what in NZ are called grass grubs. A real pastoral pest that feed on grass and clover roots. I used to grow palm seed directly into the ground but lost too many seedlings to these grubs...

"Chicken with dirt inside". I guess then if you acquire a taste for these grubs and they're in short supply, you could just roll chicken pieces in seasoned dirt before cooking...

cheers...

[tjwalters]

"Chicken with dirt inside". I guess then if you acquire a taste for these grubs and they're in short supply, you could just roll chicken pieces in seasoned dirt before cooking...

cheers...

Nah - then the dirt would be on the outside. Not the same - like zolagorgon cheese.

[Bae72]

Witchetty grubs!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchetty_grub

[palmislandRandy]

These Phyllophaga grubs apparently live 3 seasons underground feeding on live plant roots,

The Phyllophaga life cycles vary somewhat because some species complete their growth in one year, while others require as much as four years. The common life cycle of the more destructive and abundant of these beetles extends over three years. The adults mate in the evening and, at dawn, females return to the ground to deposit 15 to 20 eggs, 1 to 8 inches deep in the soil. Since the adults are attracted to trees to feed, they tend to lay most eggs in the higher portions of sod near wooded areas. Eggs hatch about three weeks later into young larvae that feed upon roots and decaying vegetation throughout the summer and, in the autumn, they migrate downward (to a depth of up to 1.5 meters) and remain inactive until the following spring. At this point in the insect's life cycle the greatest amount of damage occurs as the larvae return near the soil surface to feed on the roots of the plants. The next autumn the larvae again migrate deep into the soil to overwinter, returning near the soil surface the following spring (the third spring) to feed on plant roots until they are fully grown in late spring. These grubs then form oval earthen cells and pupation follows. The adult beetles emerge from the pupal stage a few weeks later, but they do not leave the ground. The beetles overwinter, emerging the following year in May or June when feeding, mating, and egg-laying take place.

I don't think these would normally be in a tree, as part of their life cycle is to remain dormant underground.

When I dig one up, I toss it in the lake, but the fish won't even eat them.

[realarch]

Have them here in Hawaii too, our turtles just love them. Nice, juicy, squishy, puss balls. Yikes, I just grossed myself out.

[Palmə häl′ik]

...a little 'basco sauce, and you wouldn't know better!

Here's a remedy; I reckon:

http://homeharvest.com/milkyspore.htm