I have found that paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes used as collars work well for protection against cutworm. When you plant, place an approx. 3" long piece of cardboard tube one inch into the ground with your seedling. If you started from direct seed, place the tube as soon as the seedling emerges. The cardboard will decompose so no need to remove it.

In regard to the larvae, I am not sure exactly what variety they are, so I don't want to guess. Maybe take some photos and someone may be able to help.

Whatever the larvae are I don't suppose it would hurt to gather them into a jar and observe them? I mean, don't make them a centerpiece or anything special like that :) but I would definitely be curious because I can't recall seeing that before in all my double-digging days...maybe someone else can help.

My mom uses the toilet paper tubes, on her beans. They've worked very well for her...as for the bugs...they could be good bugs. Difficult to tell, without pictures.

So far I am having no luck getting a picture where you can see anything. The questionable bugs look like maggots, lots and lots of maggots in that spot.

Does anyone know if the cardboard collars work on cutworms that climb as that seems to be the predominant type in NM. Right now I am digging around in the soil and killing any that I come across. Part of me hates to do it but it is them or my plants.

If they are white and have a red or dark head they are squash borer vine larvae. Lay them out for the birds to eat. You should till your garden in the fall and spring to expose these darn things! I agree with lavendar lass. They are called cutworm collars made out of cardboard tubings. They are noctural.They nipped 1/2 of my kale babies. Put them around the plants when you first plant them. They are too dumb to climb over them.

Link below is to the 100 Most Common Insects in NM with pics and info. Might help you narrow it down. But you describe them as maggots, not grubs as other have mentioned. Very different things. Maggots are normally the larvae of various flies and are quite small. Grubs, which are much larger, are the larvae of beetles and moths.

Your local county extension office can ID them for you if you take some in to them.

Dave

From OISAT (GW wouldn't accept link):

"Treat the seedbed with wood ash or a mixture of wood ash and chalk*... Apply wood ash directly around the stems of young seedlings and after transplanting seedlings. The ash discourages cutworms from burrowing into the soil around the seedlings."

"For large infestations check the pH of the soil, acidity is said to encourage cutworms. Add lime, this deters the moth from laying eggs on the soil and reduces the egg fertility."

[*If your soil pH is good -- 6.5 is just about perfect--, forget the lime and use gypsum (calcium sulfate). Gypsum will add calcium and some sulfur, but it is NOT lime and won't raise your pH.]

Regarding the maggots... What grew in those spots last year? Could there be crop residue, eggs of something were laid last year, and now they're hatching out?

Angiemomma4 did make a good suggestion: put some kitchen waste in a clear container, add some of the maggots, tie a fabric cover over it to confine them, and grow them up a bit to see what you've got. If it's getting warm and they were near the surface, there is the possibility that they are Black Soldier Flies, and they won't harm your plants, they just eat waste.

Sue