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justdeb Birmingham, AL(Zone 7b) Aug 31, 2006

Bug #4

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hill5422 Stephenville, TX(Zone 8a) Aug 31, 2006

A crab spider in the family Thomasidae. All spiders are predators, so this isn't the culprit either.

FM

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justdeb Birmingham, AL(Zone 7b) Aug 31, 2006

Thank you!
I can't figure this out. Huge leaves are disappearing each night. Even entire branches....all new growth.
I suppose the predators are on my plants for a reason, they found something there to feed on. I guess I need to just get more of these...

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hill5422 Stephenville, TX(Zone 8a) Aug 31, 2006

!!! This sounds more four legged than six legged. Even the biggest katydids would have some trouble doing this much damage. Is there anything left of the leaf margins, like something chewed it away or is the whole leaf gone? And I can't think of anything buglike that would take a whole branch overnight and not leave a lot of traces of its visit. Is it possible that something big is foraging on the plants or is it totally out of the question (like they are on the back porch by the dog)?

FM

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justdeb Birmingham, AL(Zone 7b) Sep 01, 2006

I don't have a dog, the neighbors all have several and don't like them to mess in their yards, so they do let them out regularly to forage in mine while I'm at work. I thought it was slugs at first. It may have been. Since that time the damage may be stunted growth from severe heat and insecticide spray. I've also considered that someone cut them off. They dug up some begonia tubers in early spring, so it's not beyond the realm of possibilities. I'm trying to eliminate these one at a time...
Oh, and the plants are poisonous, and none of the neighborhood regulars have died. Lead me to believe it wasn't one of them.

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justdeb Birmingham, AL(Zone 7b) Sep 01, 2006

Here is a picture of the damaged plant (it's been isolated to this brug). I'm starting to think that the damage is a result of more than one factor. Most likely magnified by attempts to correct the initial damage...

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