Vanisle_BC
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Tiny worms on potatoes.

To make space for a few fall-planted potatoes, I dug up some immature spuds that had volunteered in the same place. Those potatoes had some tiny yellow, curly worms on them, starting to burrow in. I'm reluctant now to plant more potatoes there, and wondering if planting elsewhere would do any good by way of avoiding them. The worms are about the thickness of a sailmaker's thread, maybe an inch long if uncurled. Are these a common pest that maybe exists all over my beds and is there anything I can do about them?

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applestar
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Are they segmented and yellow-orange? If so I get them and they are called wireworms — click beetle larvae.

I have harvest potatoes as soon as I think they are ready in the summer because left in the ground, these wireworms can be devastating.

I get rid of them systematically when found in the ground while digging.

Vanisle_BC
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@Applestar; not wireworms: I've battled with those :( and would recognize them instantly. These are much smaller, very thin and curly, almost thread-like, yellow-ish or cream in color.

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applestar
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Hmm … What about potato tuberworm?

According to this page, this one is a MOTH larva.
…otherwise, weren’t you battling something else that is endemic to your region— some kind of nematode or thread worm that started with a “s” and has “y” and “ph” in it — cannot remember what it’s called or what crop it affected… :oops:

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digitS'
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There are millipedes that are pests.

I'm not sure if the ones that were found in my potato patch this fall were the primary cause of damage to some tubers. There seemed to be too few of them. Nevertheless, there were a few holes in some and one plant had some decay. I'll blame the millipedes.

Steve

This might be the species or a relative:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaniulus_guttulatus

Vanisle_BC
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@Applestar, They're not the segmented one in the picture you sent. By the other one I think you mean Symphylans (thanks for the word puzzle!) and you could be right. I've had those before but not recently and I'd actually forgotten them. I know they go for potatoes; you can use those as traps. I think I also recall that they tend to be localized so maybe planting elsewhere would work, while trapping in the area I know they're infesting. Unfortunately I didn't take a close look or photo of these ones so I'm not sure what they are. Silly me.

@digitS' - not the the spotted snake millipede, I'm pretty sure. They looked more squiggly & thread-like than that one.

My first brush with Symphylans was when I'd find groups of them hanging on strawberries - literally low hanging fruit. Another thing I recall is that they are said to travel below ground, along tunnels left by other insects, so lots of digging can disrupt an infestation.

Thanks both for your input. If I come across more of these beasties I'll inspect more closely.



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