What kind of worms are very skinny, dark brown and curl up?

OneDahlia · January 10, 2012

Found some worms of that description while preparing some garden beds during some recent sunny days. They don't look like the pictures I've seen of cutworms -- very skinny and a few inches long. I think they look like they have teeny legs on each section.

I googled garden pests till I'm ready to throw up, but I don't see anything that looks like this.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo.

bcday · January 10, 2012

Worms don't have legs. Maybe it's a millipede?
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05552.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7472.html
Is your "worm" soft-skinned or does it have a hard outer shell?
If it's soft-skinned, maybe it's some kind of caterpillar other than a cutworm. My grandmother used to call any kind of caterpillar a "worm", LOL.

OneDahlia · January 10, 2012

I think they look skinnier than the pictures I saw of millipedes.

Yeah, I knew worms and legs don't go together, but darn it, it sure looks like a worm. I can't say for sure whether these have legs, actually, because they're dirt colored -- they blend back in before I can get a good look. (Not that I really want to get a good look.)

So if it is an actual worm, no legs, does that sound like anything familiar?

janezee · January 11, 2012

Have you googled wireworms?
I think that might be what you have.

bcday · January 11, 2012

I thought of wireworms too, especially if the garden soil is reddish (they would blend right in). But if OneDahlis'a critters are a few inches long, that sounds too long to be wireworms. I've never seen a wireworm more than about one inch long.

OneDahlia · January 11, 2012

They look like curly wire pieces, actually, but I just googled wireworms and mine are longer than that. They're dark brown.

I should go dig around and have my camera handy and try to get a picture.

habitat_gardener · January 11, 2012

Horsehair worms? That's what I got when I googled worm curl thin.

January 10, 2012	#1
OneDahlia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: 7a NO. VA. Posts: 202	What kind of worms are very skinny, dark brown and curl up? Found some worms of that description while preparing some garden beds during some recent sunny days. They don't look like the pictures I've seen of cutworms -- very skinny and a few inches long. I think they look like they have teeny legs on each section. I googled garden pests till I'm ready to throw up, but I don't see anything that looks like this. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo.

January 10, 2012	#2
bcday Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY z5 Posts: 1,205	Worms don't have legs. Maybe it's a millipede? http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05552.html http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7472.html Is your "worm" soft-skinned or does it have a hard outer shell? If it's soft-skinned, maybe it's some kind of caterpillar other than a cutworm. My grandmother used to call any kind of caterpillar a "worm", LOL.

January 11, 2012	#4
janezee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Whidbey Island, WA Zone 7, Sunset 5 Posts: 931	Have you googled wireworms? I think that might be what you have.

January 11, 2012	#7
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	Horsehair worms? That's what I got when I googled worm curl thin.