WELL, MAYBE NOT QUITE THAT BIG.......lol

But it was rather large – approximately six inches!  Not sure what it would have eventually matured into but it would have been pretty big.

[larva (s), larvae (pl): Usually a motile feeding and developing stage in the life cycle of certain insects which follows the egg stage and precedes the pupa.  Larvae of some kinds of insects are known as caterpillars, maggots, grubs, and worms.]

I remember a few years back observing a very large black and brown beetle walking across the driveway that had big antennas resembling fern leaves – kind of hairy looking.  (Reasonably sure I have some old VHS or 8mm video tape of the insect but don’t have the time to rummage through boxes of tapes right now.)  Wonder if this larva would have matured into that night-time walking monster?

“How big of a beetle was it?”,  you might ask….

“Big enough to leave clear tracks in the dirt driveway”, I would respond.

Anyway, discovered a few of these bad boy larvae under a rotten Oak tree stump while digging up the roots last weekend.  Unfortunately, most of them were discovered a piece at a time with a shovel.  (Gross)  Tried to save two of them that appeared uninjured (one slightly more mature) but they also later died – probably because of removing them from their buried, dark, moist nursery underground.

When first removed from the ground and still moving you could see the darker interior portions of the creature slinking through its cream colored – fairly translucent skin.  Creepy in a way.

Oh well.  I have been digging holes and trenches on this property for 21 years and have never run across something like this — pretty strange.  Just wanted to share the  find.

My best to you and  yours, Lew

PS:   Here’s a short video of the insect:   http://youtu.be/hcgfZBpX9Cs