I found two of these in different areas of undisturbed ground. One in my rock garden and one under my grape arbor, and I'm just hoping someone can help me identify the insect inside. The picture next to the Sharpie is there showing size. They are not very large but they are very hard.
These are moth pupae, but exactly which kind cannot be determined from these images. Many species in the families Sphingidae and Noctuidae pupate in the soil. See https://c8.alamy.com/comp/A7AA5D/noctuid-moth-pupa-A7AA5D.jpg for an example.
Wow, thank you. For some reason I thought that they might be beetles. I have now spent over an hour just going through all the different moths. :)
