The first is a white grub, the larval stage of one of the scarab beetles. In your location, the adult is probably a June beetle.

The second looks like a wire worm to me, which is the larval stage of click beetles.

Top grub is the larva of the scarsb beetle. They don't cause any harm to humans, animals or landscape. https://www.flapest.com/florida-deep-digger-scarab-beetles.

BTW it would be really helpful if you add your garden zone next to your name.

OK - will do that. I'm in Orlando, FL, zone 9B.

Just out of interest, there are lots of ants around the plants. Do they just eat dead wood/plants, or will they damage the plants? Some are fire ants, some are smaller..

A Google searched brought this up among other sites:

https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/scarab-beetles

When I come across grubs, I feed them to the anole lizards - just set them on the sidewalk and the lizards run out and snap them up.

I throw them to the lizards or the chickens if they are freeranging at the time.

It is nearly impossible to ID the grubs of one species over another. I always treat them as the enemy when I find them and do what carol does....feed them to something that will eat them. In most instances, white grubs feed on the roots of grasses and other plants. However, sometimes the adult beetle can be a problem, too.

Regardless, the birds will love them. I toss them in one of my bird baths as I find them. Every year the birds follow me around like chicks after the hen.

Ants aren't plant eaters, with the exception of fire ants which will devour fruits and soft veggies, and even seeds. They are true omnivores.

Fire ants love nothing more than newly developed properties. I'd start getting rid of their mounds first. I always recommend Amdro, a granular bait intended to be sprinkled around the undisturbed mound. The ants will take the little poison laced particles into the nest and begin feeding it to the larvae, the other ants, and to the queen. In a matter of a couple of days, the ants will be dead.

What you don't want to do is pour boiling water, liquid pesticides, gasoline, or any other concoction all over the mounds. The ants will move, probably not that far away, but they won't die.

Again, a small sprinkle around the edges of a mound, being careful that you don't disturb the ants. Leave them alone after that. Store the Amdro in a cool, dark location and try to use it up within a year. It does not have a long shelf life.

AAAAGH -- GRUBS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM NOW!

O.K., that's a bit overstated, but I never met a grub that didn't need to be killed. They eat roots, and they are non-discriminatory in which roots they eat. They kill plants from the bottom, unseen, stealthily, and you never know what hit them. Seriously, kill them now. Bayer is the only company I know that makes an insecticide that kills white grubs. I hate to use soil insecticides, because they also kill the larvae of beneficial insects sometimes, but grubs are the devil and nematodes are their sidekick demons.

Rant over.

Windberry, some of us have different expectations for our gardens and lawns. Most of us really don't want our lawns "aerified" (torn to pieces, lol) by skunks, moles, or armadillo.

But I would support your choice to the fullest to practice a hands off form of critter control over wall to wall pesticide use.

I find them when I'm digging in my veggie beds, and they can and will feed on roots, so that's why I get rid of them.