What are these little suckers?

Took my Azalea Marinja out of the pot to plant it in a container and there were several of these little suckers in the soil ...



Anybody know what they are please?

 

They look like vine weevil larvae.

 

Thanks Scrungee, them's the ones

Found underneath the roots of my Azalea Marinja which I bought recently and which isn't looking too healthy it has to be said.

 

They are real bad news. I hope they haven't had time to spread.

 

Bet it was in a peat based compost and imported from The Netherlands.
Wash the roots clean and bin the compost. Repot in Ericaceous compost if you want to keep it in a pot or plant immediately in the garden otherwise.
At that stage of development they are not ready to change into adults yet and they will not normally leave one set of roots to go looking for others.
Go back to where you bought it from and give them what for.

 

I've had some very old begonia corms, riddled with these this year, so I dont think its quite fair to blame the Dutch market for them, they could be home grown ones.

That said, they are a real pest and need to be sorted out, before becoming beetles and re-infesting other pot plants this coming summer.

 

You could microwave the compost! Saves a bit of cash.

Cheers, Tony.

 

They weren't in the bag of compost, they were in the pot the plant came in, so contained thankfully.

I've emailed the nursery I got the Azalea from to ask what my options are if the plant does die.

 

Cor, my mouse would love those.

 

crikey ! that is not good , especially if they came in the pot

 

Provado Vine Weevil Killer contains the neonicotinoides which are strongly implicated in the death of Bees.
I would hesitate to use it on anything which has flowers which bees will visit. The evidence seems to suggest that the poison is translocated up and into the pollen.

 

I have been in touch with the nursery who are taking the matter seriously and have advised that all their plants are treated for vine weevil as a matter of course. Their plants all carry a one year guarantee so if it dies I can get a refund or replacement.

I told them that they were in the newer compost into which the plant had been potted up rather than in the rootball so they are getting the nurserymen to look into it.

Am impressed with their customer service

 

Apologies to all bee-keepers , but I'd leave the plant with it's rootball soaking in Provado solution for 24 hours. Vine weevil larvae are notorious for hiding in even a small piece of soil or compost, so there's a good chance that there are grubs or eggs in the main rootball. Once they're allowed to develop into adults, it'll be a nightmare to get rid of them. It's always worth looking carefully at plants' leaves in a nursery or garden centre to see if they've got the tell-tale semi-circular 'bites' out of the sides. If they have, the stock will be riddled with the little *******s

 

Sorry to hear that these little blighter's are about again, just found some under my alpine strawbs and had to leave the soil open on top of the ground so the birds can feast on them.
Place is a hive of activity as the birds are pecking away at the soil. Love the little things as feed for the wildlife, but they will not deter me from potting them on when the birds have finished.