I decided to expand our vegetable garden this year by converting some of the wild area behind the existing garden into usable garden space.
While tilling and planting I found these subterranean dwelling insects known as “wireworms”.
You can see by the photo how they got their name, they sort of look like a piece of copper wire and have a hard, shiny exterior skin.
Wireworms found in the garden.
They are actually the larval form of the “click beetle”. These are beetles that make a “click” when they flip themselves up onto their feet if they some how ended up on their back.
There are several species of wireworms out there and are commonly found in newly tilled sod, like my area, or in gardens that have not been weeded very thoroughly.
There are also species that prefer garden crops, the potato is especially vulnerable to wireworm attack. Damage in potatoes shows up as reduced yield caused by the larvae chewing on the roots and as holes burrowed into the potato tuber itself.
Years ago there were many insecticides that would eliminate wire worms in the garden, those have all been taken off the market due to environmental concerns. Your best bet to reduce wire worms in the future is to keep your garden free of weeds throughout the gardening season. There are also some biological products on the market that show some promising results in keeping wire worms in check.
Keeping wireworms away is another good reason to keep that garden weeded!
Bob