What species are these?

[Jack]

I found them yesterday, took pictures, and let them go.

They walk on their backs by wriggling their muscles around--they don't use their legs.

[Steamwalker]

Grubs, by the look of them. Not sure on the species.

[s1m0n]

They look like maggots to me

http://images.google.com/images?client= ... &q=maggots

[Wanderer]

looks more like white grubs to me
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=1 ... rch+Images

Yours will probably turn into june bugs when grown.

[Steamwalker]

Looks similar to this White Grub:

[Jack]

Thank you everybody. I had no idea what they were. I was kind of thinking they were baby moths or butterflies or some kind of beetle. I guess June bugs are beetles.

[Rod Sprague]

They look delicious, full of umami.

[Caroluna]

Those C-shaped grubs are typical of beetles in the Scarab family. Other
beetles have larvae of different shapes. Mealworms are beetle larvae;
leaf mining beetles have extremely thin larvae that feed between the
upper and lower surfaces of leaves!

Here's Wiki on the Scarab family
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarabaeidae

The C-shaped larvae, called grubs, are pale yellow or white. The
grubs mostly live underground or under debris, so are not exposed to
light.


Some of the well-known beetles from the Scarabaeidae are Japanese
beetles, dung beetles, June beetles, rose chafers, rhinoceros beetles,
Hercules beetles and Goliath beetles.

common ones

In ancient Egypt, scarabs were revered as sacred.

Here's what Egyptian scarab beetles look like in their non-glorified state. That's probably elephant dung they're rolling.


www.ngoko.com/ngoko.htm

Here is my favorite scarab beetle-- called the Bumble Flower Beetle.

It's fuzzy, about the size of a small bumblebee and when it flies by it
buzzes just like a bee. The grubs are C-shaped. The scientific name is
Euphoria inda, and I have a strange sense of happiness whenever I
find one. Maybe your grubs were baby Euphorias, Cran!

[Jack]

They're so cute! They make me want to collect beetles!

[gonzo914]

They're so cute! They make me want to collect beetles!

You could put them in a Miracle Whip jar and keep them until they die.

Then you could get new beetles and repeat, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Sure, they die, but heck, they're only beetles.

[Aanvil]

Don't let them close to your ear or they will crawl in and control your brain.

True story.

You haven't perhaps already done that have you?

[Caroluna]

You could put them in a Miracle Whip jar and keep them until they die.

Other uses for dead beetles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_fly

The Spanish fly is an emerald-green beetle in the family Meloidae,
Lytta vesicatoria.[1][2] It is 15 mm to 22 mm long and 5 mm to 8 mm
wide, and lives on plants in the families Caprifoliaceae and Oleaceae. The
beetle contains up to 5% cantharidin which irritates animal tissues.
The crushed powder of Spanish fly is of yellowish brown to
brown-olive color with iridescent reflections, of disagreeable scent and
bitter flavor.

Its medical use dates back to descriptions from Hippocrates. Plasters
made from wings of these beetles have been used to raise blisters. In
ancient China, cantharides beetles were mixed with human dung, arsenic
and wolfsbane to make the world's first recorded stink bomb.[4] It is also
one of the world’s most well-known aphrodisiacs.

[Lambchop]

Do you have to actually throw them on the sidewalk to get them to pop, or will just tossing them do?

Oh, and you didn't hold them very long, did you? If you should develop a swelling with a teeny-tiny hole in its top, see a doctor. And for gawd's sake, don't put your hands in your mouth after handling them.

[Walden]

June bugs are a variety of scarab beetle.

[Jack]

Do you have to actually throw them on the sidewalk to get them to pop, or will just tossing them do?

Oh, and you didn't hold them very long, did you? If you should develop a swelling with a teeny-tiny hole in its top, see a doctor. And for gawd's sake, don't put your hands in your mouth after handling them.

You're paranoid and need to get a life.