CLOSED: concerned because there are so many of these

These little grey bugs don't appear to be causing any damage but I am concerned because there are many many many in my garden. What are they? Are they harmless? Will they morph into something that will destroy my world (garden)?

I cannot see their heads clearly enough to tell whether or not they have 'snouts.' If they do, they might be weevils - see ttp://tinyurl.com/nvbp7k for images. This family includes a number of pest species, but the species in the referenced document do not appear to be any of these. If you cannot submit another image that shows an entire insect, I suggest that you take some specimens to your county cooperative extension service office - see http://tinyurl.com/ljoxd8 for contact information.

I just went out and took over 100 photos but I am afraid I just can't seem to get a clear shot of the head - in my defense the head is almost always hidden in the flower ^_^
This was the best I could do. Looking through weevil photos in bug files I think this one may be it. What do you think?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/4615/

Oh, by the way, there are many prosopis (mesquite) growing here, some in a vacant lot right next to my home.

edited to correct spelling

This message was edited Jul 29, 2009 12:28 PM

those are weevils and i feel for you, i really do. i battle them constantly. three things i have found that work to a degree. dr. bronner's castile soap and water (2 tbs.per gallon) will kill them on contact but it is an ongoing routine-at least weekly. spinosad sprayed on the leaves of some plants will work also. they ingest it and die and it's an organic spray that only kills leaf eaters. i say some plants because it does not work on roses. for that i have found one and only one spray that kills them and keeps working for about 2 weeks and that is Bayers Dual Action flower and rose spray. i hate using chemicals but it is war here and if you let them go, you will be so sorry.

they do the most damage in the larvae stage (underground root eaters) and in warm climates they breed practically year round.

i should also say that other things do work to kill them, like sevin, malathion, etc. but i didn't want to spray the entire garden with stuff that kills so many things. i use the soap spray and/or the spinosad on the garden and individually spray my roses with the bayers.

they have made my garden life a living hell......good luck!

Thank you suunto and trackinsand.
I appreciate the tips on control very much too. From what I can find out on the internet, if these are the prosopis weevil, I may not have to do anything. I think they lay their eggs in the mesquite seed pods. They are not munching on leaves and none of the plants are showing one bit of distress so far. They are mainly feeding on Gaillardia and Zinnia flowers which are also being visited by butterflies, bees and wasps. I gave my rose bushes a good look-over and there are not any on them.
Boy have I had a year so far.. my Evening Primrose were thoroughly destroyed by apple flea beetles, Coreopsis had powdery mildew and now these bugs. On the bright side I wanted to get rid of the Primrose and the garden has lots of beneficial bugs, butterflies and birds.
I will try the castile soap if it becomes necessary. I guess dish soap doesn't work???

i do know that yours and mine are not the same (Artipus floridanus here), the little leaf-notcher weevil, but unless i'm mistaken, all weevils are root feeders in the larval stage so although you may not see damage now, you may in the future.

some weevils can fly but mine can't. i believe mine are all females also, no males needed. although mine are supposedly citrus feeders, their host plants are many and varied. i've spent the last year and a half putting in plants that the aren't attracted to. many have gone by the wayside! lol mine not only notch leaves, they get into the Y of a rose cane and scrape or bite and the cane eventually dies. mine also play dead. i gathered specimens and dropped them into various containers of organic remedies. the dish soap didn't work. after they were washed and dropped into a clean container, they perked back up. the castile soap is made from oils and it blackens and desiccates them almost instantly. evil grin. on the good side, the oil is not noticeable and will not burn plants the way regular horticultural oil will.

the spinosad has really been a lifesaver as i can use that around the garden and beyond with no problems to anything but leaf-chewers. it is not listed on the label for killing weevils but it seems to be working.

i hope you do not have an especially evil species-just keep aware of what's going on with them. hand picking is kind of fun in the beginning. once i got over my distaste for handling them, it was easy to pick them off (they will hide under leaves when they see you coming) and step on them. of course, now i break them with my thumbnail......the fun is over. lol

Mine can fly or else they would be in a bucket of Castile soap!!!! I need to check my rose canes. I just checked the leaves. I wonder if there is something I can do to the soil after the fall butterfly migration. There are several species of ground nesting bees in my garden.... lol, I'm getting a headache!

there are beneficial nematodes that the citrus growers are experimenting with. you apply in fall. i haven't looked into it yet but i plan on it. it may be fruitless though. there are groves all around me and unless they all treat, i'm doomed. i just keep plugging away. i just hate to spray as much as i do now. it's so time-consuming. i have a headache too! perpetual.....

I was out weeding yesterday & this looks similar to what I saw. Tons and Tons on top of each other on my Clematis 'Chinese Lantern's" they were on one and the other one looked like this all the leaves eaten? Is the plant dead? Should I cut that off where there are no leaves? How do I get rid of these? Thanks for your help

"tons and tons on top of each other" sounds more like scale or mealybugs. your picture doesn't show anything to give a clue as to what you have. if it's scale, you have to smother with oil spray or cut off the stems and if it's mealybugs, a soapy water spray with added alcohol will kill them.

the picture is suppose to show that the leaves were all eaten. I wasn't able to take a picture cause I put 7-dust on them and two minutes later they disappeared. Then today when I was using the weed eater my legs were almost covered in these nasty bugs that were on my clematis. I got a couple pictures the best I could but not sure you can tell what they are. Here's the first one

eaten leaves don't really tell us anything but scale and mealybugs don't eat leaves. they suck fluids out of the plant.

and this one

kitten, you need to check your photos before you send them. these are barely focused. the second picture looks to be a beetle of some kind and some do eat leaves. you should get a good clear picture and start a new thread so more people will see it and be able to id the insect for you. tagging it along at the end of a solved thread really won't help you much.

I realize that the eaten leaves didn't tell you anything but I figured while I was out trying to take a picture of the creature I could show you what they did. O and by the way the little creature apparently don't like their picture taken cause they don't hold still.

I know they were blurry but as I stated they don't hold still enough to get a good clear picture. And I did check them out before I sent them & figured if you knew your bugs you could tell by the blurry picture as i couldn't get a better one