Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Ian Young's Bulb Log - Feedback Forum => Topic started by: Maggi Young on August 21, 2009, 02:08:54 PM
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In this Log, from the other week, Ian showed a bulb eating pest, which he called a chafer grub. He knew it wasn't the beastie we usually know as a chafer grub, but he thought that it was some kind of beetle grub. :-X
This, inspite of my pointing out the assorted foot parts of said critter, which marked it, for me, as some kind of caterpillar. ::) :-\
Anthony Darby, our Forum Bug Buff, has been viewing the Log and informs us that:" In bulb log 32, Ian shows a grub. It's not a chafer grub but the caterpillar of a Ghost Swift moth (Hepialus humuli). They are underground root feeders. One species even specialises on Bracken roots!"
While we are rather annoyed to see that the beast is prepared not only to eat roots but also to chomp into the bulbs, it is good to identify the culprit properly. Thanks, Anthony!
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Repotting Colchicums this week I found a tuber with very little left. The only culprit I could see were small black snails in some deeper holes