Hi, I just got done turning my raised bed container which last had carrots in it and was not happy to find these critters with every scoop of my shovel. I tried to find them all but not sure if I succeeded. Can anyone please tell me what these things are and what they might morph into? Thank you for any help I can get.
These are larvae ('white grubs') of a scarab beetle. Many of these are harmless scavengers/detrivores on decomposing organic matter in soil, but some are root feeders and can be serious pests. At least one species, Tomarus gibbosus, is known to damage carrots and is known, strangely enough, as a carrot beetle - see http://www.pbase.com/markb249/image/139127918 for an image of an adult beetle.
Thank you very much, that is very interesting information for me. Now do you think that it would be safe to feed them to chickens?
Great, thank you again for your help!
