I find these guys sometimes while digging, and never quite know whether to release them or... not. Anyone know what it is or might become?
Looks like wireworm, larva of the click beetle. They eat roots I think. I stomp 'em or hold either end and pull.
Excuse my slowness in expressing my thanks - Thank you! This question has been (ahem) "bugging" me for over ten years but I've never found a good garden bug book and even once there were forums, it was tough to get good photos before modern digital cameras. I don't have the stomach to pull, but I do have shoes :-)
There's a shiny black guy that moves quickly and can sometimes be seen wrestling an earthworm. It took me a long time to discover that it is the larva of the ground beetle. So even though I sympathize with the earthworm, I don't interfere with that one; he's a good guy.
Yes, I did figure that one out a few years ago thanks. That's partly why I haven't been killing the wireworms; I guessed they were beetle larvae of some sort and didn't want to hurt anything beneficial. I get quite a kick out of ground beetles, actually; they are such hapless-looking creatures and have the worst luck in terms of hanging out wherever I plan to be digging on any given day.
