i had assumed it was slugs, so have been setting out slug deterrents but found these guys instead. having trouble getting to my harvest before they do 🙁
location: northern california / bay area
by FollowingFar2313
i had assumed it was slugs, so have been setting out slug deterrents but found these guys instead. having trouble getting to my harvest before they do 🙁
location: northern california / bay area
by FollowingFar2313
11 Comments
Bugs
Wow, I’m really stumped on this one. I’ve been searching “black worms in strawberries,” “black bugs in strawberries,” “black larvae in strawberries.” I’ve found info on black cutworm (aka greasy cutworm), wireworm, spotted wing drosophilia larvae (which aren’t even dark colored), strawberry slugs, gray garden slugs, terrestrial flatworms…none of them look quite right. The black cutworms look closest but those are caterpillar things with legs, and the ones in your pic look more maggot like, or maybe like mealworms with those segmented bodies. But I’m not an entomologist. Actually I hate looking at pics of creepy crawlies like this.
If you find out please follow up. I’m dying to know the answer.
Millipedes?
Google says it’s black soldier fly larvae.
These really look like mealworms, but darker. Some kind of beetle, I’m not sure exactly which kind. Looks similar to Tenebrio obscuris mealworms
These look like soldier fly pupae or another type of fly pupae
Those are specifically the species creepius crawlius
Guys
Keep your berries off the dirt
I have a gajillion strawberry plants in my home garden and I battle all sorts of bugs defending my strawberries, but I’ve **never** come across whatever the hell this is- and I’m even more terrified that you’re just up a few hundred miles from me as well. Hopefully we can get an ID sooner than later!!
Nasty ass worms.