Wood eating caterpillars?

[ShadowSummer]

Today DH was tidying the garden shed, and discovered a number of caterpillars that appeared to have been eating the floor of the shed. They're a sort of creamy colour.

Obviously this was quite disturbing and we plan to get rid of them ASAP. The shed is quite a way away from the house, so hopefully this is limited to the shed. DH has had a look on google, but hasn't had much luck identifying the caterpillars so far.

Has anyone come across anything similar and could give us a clue as to what we're dealing with here?

Wood worm?

would this help?

woodboring beetle larvae are cream in colour and quite caterpillar like. Could be those....

How big?

Might be stag beetles. They're great.

They only eat rotten wood, so your shed floor is probably damp. Replace with treated timber.

They're about 3/4 inches long.

Thanks for the link, MousyMouse, they look most like the longhorn larvae from that, although DH reckons that the caterpillers / larvae aren't quite the same

Longhorn is found only in a few parts of southern england. Where are you?

We're in the north-east. Sounds unlikely to be longhorn, then.

Are they straight, or C-shaped?

Is the shed floor rotten?

They are straight, and the shed floor is not rotten. (Shed is only about 4-5 yrs old)

maybe put one in a big glass jar with a piece of damp wood, and see what hatches.

How big are they? Death watch beetle larvae are like small cream coloured caterpillars.