Bug Identification Archives | Page 6 of 11

Sorted by what they do rather than what they become. The ones eating brassicas, the ones eating tomatoes, and the small group worth not touching.

Grubs in Soil and Lawn: Which Beetle Larva Is It

The C-shaped white grub under turf is a chafer or Japanese beetle larva. Raster pattern and depth separate them from the harmless soil dwellers.

Maggots are a location problem rather than a pest one. A bin, a drain, a wall cavity or something dead, and the species points at which of them.

Only two of them actually live indoors. Droppings, gnaw marks and the size of the entry hole separate mice, rats, voles, shrews and squirrels.

Time of day and habitat separate these better than appearance does. No-see-ums at dusk, black flies by water, horse flies in open sun on a hot day.

Four are environmental and stop on their own once the source is gone. One needs a prescription, and telling them apart decides who you should call.

Colour is the weakest clue because one species varies. The host plant and the feeding position do the work, and root aphids hide below the soil.

The larva builds silk as it feeds, and that webbing is the diagnostic. The moth that fluttered out of the wardrobe eats nothing at all, ever.

The bristly stage does all the damage and gets blamed for bites it cannot inflict. The shed skins are easier to find than the larvae themselves.