Critter ID please

9 years ago

Can someone tell what this is? Found it in the soil and also, hundreds of tiny versions being carted away by ants under a brick near my tomatoes. Thanks in advance!

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

9 years ago

It's a pupa of some sort, I'm thinking a beetle. What would you estimate the size to be?

The tiny versions you saw the ants moving were most likely eggs, pupae, and larvae of their own kind. Ants move their nests for a variety of reasons.

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Comments (8)

Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you @rhizo. This one was about half my index finger. I just want to make sure it won't destroy my vegetable garden.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
as far as we know right now.. it could be a beneficial .... so you have to try to offset your fear or disgust long enough to find out.. lol ..

reminds me a of a cricket ... but not that huge ... and this is just WAG territory ....ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=cricket+pupa&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwi16fr2-qbUAhWR2YMKHQ2UA_oQ_AUIBigB&biw=919&bih=743#imgrc=_

wonder what a mole cricket is ...sure seems to have the size ...

https://www.google.com/search?q=cricket+pupa&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwi16fr2-qbUAhWR2YMKHQ2UA_oQ_AUIBigB&biw=919&bih=743#tbm=isch&q=mole+cricket+pupa
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a
Original Author
9 years ago
@ken, thank you for that journey down pupa lane: that was really gross. Ok, so the lesson seems to be, there's nothing to freak out about.
Fori
9 years ago
Crickets don't have pupae though. If a pupa comes out of a cricket, it's probably from a parasitic fly. And mole crickets are adorable!!!

Save your pupa in some moist soil and see what you get. It's cheating, but it's easy.
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a thanked Fori
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years ago
Ken, you've forgotten your jr. high biology. Crickets undergo incomplete metamorphosis. When they hatch from the eggs, they look exactly like crickets, only teensy. The little ones are called nymphs. Mole cricket nymphs, for instance, are very tiny when they hatch from eggs the size of a large grain of sand.

Other insects undergo complete metamorphosis. What hatches from the egg are larvae of some sort....a grub, maggot, or caterpillar. The larvae eventually turns into a pupa, during which time it will turn into the adult form of whatever it is. I still feel reasonably sure that this is a beetle pupa of some sort.
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
all i said was ...

not to panic ...

it reminded me of a cricket ...

and third.. WAG territory ... remember jr high bio ... right .... lol

ken
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Fori
9 years ago
Looks all slinky like a click beetle.
Northeast Gardener, Central NJ, 7a thanked Fori