ID on massive larva?

[moletteuk]

Found a massive bug in the garden the other day, it was in the soil, only a few inches down.

It was really big - about 3 to 4cm long, diameter 1.5cm ish. It was completely pale cream coloured, and looked like a grasshopper, except I don't think the legs etc were properly separate from the body, so I think it was a nymph?

I realise my description isn't very scientific, I wasn't really paying attention at the time, as I was gardening. I've just got round to looking in my insect book, and the only grasshopper thing that size is a mole cricket, which I understand is very rare. Any other ideas?

Is there a book/website that shows insects in larvae/ insects in early stages as you would find in soil - I quite frequently find things that look amazing (to me anyway) in the soil in the garden?

[Dogghound]

Sounds like a beetle larva, possible a chafer, or carabid.

[mrs fish]

Did it look like this?

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...005800x600.jpg

[moletteuk]

No, it wasn't a grub type thing. It was firm to the touch, solid, and glossy looking.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by moletteuk

No, it wasn't a grub type thing. It was firm to the touch, solid, and glossy looking.

But larvae are, almost by definition, soft-bodied. If it was hard-bodied then we'd need to think of imagines ... could it have been a pupa such as a large butterfly/moth chrysalis?

[moletteuk]

OK, sorry about that, I was just trying to say non adult insect, so it's not a larvae. Yes, it was more similar to a chrysalis, in that it was solid and glossy looking, but it really did look like a grasshopper. I'm confident about the dimensions I gave(, I'm an engineer), the overall diameter/ thickness of it was at least 15mm, so much bigger than a chafer.

Could someone describe the development of grasshoppers for me, please.

[Paul mabbott]

Orthoptera are hemimetabolous - like true bugs, they do not go through the egg-larva-pupa-imago stages (complete metamorphosis) of the higher insects such as beetles, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera. Therefore the early stages (nymphs) are similar to the final imago but smaller, wingless and sexually incompetent. They just shed their skins when they reahc the limits of growth. Sorry, can't find any pictures on a brief web search ....

Originally Posted by moletteuk

OK, sorry about that, I was just trying to say non adult insect, so it's not a larvae. Yes, it was more similar to a chrysalis, in that it was solid and glossy looking, but it really did look like a grasshopper. I'm confident about the dimensions I gave(, I'm an engineer), the overall diameter/ thickness of it was at least 15mm, so much bigger than a chafer.

Could someone describe the development of grasshoppers for me, please.