Country diary: A handful of rose chafer larvae is a reassuring promise

Langstone, Hampshire: These juveniles survive on dead leaves and other detritus, and will one day become iridescent coppery-green adult beetles My containers have been plagued with vine weevil larvae this year, the maggot-like creatures chomping through the roots of edible and ornamental plants. So when I lifted some strawberry crowns to make way for my tulip bulbs and glimpsed a plump, cream-coloured grub in the crumbly, dark brown compost, my heart sank.As I unearthed the grub, I realised something was amiss. It was curled in a distinctive tight C shape but looked like a vine weevil larva on steroids - three times the size of those I'd dug up earlier in autumn. Vine weevil larvae are legless, but this individual was sporting three pairs of stubby legs, positioned right at the front of the body, close to its amber head. It was a chafer beetle larva, but at first glance I wasn't sure of the species. Continue reading...