Please help!!!! It's a party

and I wasn't invited. Last night I went out to water and things was just fine. This morning I go out and look at my hibiscus and holes and chunks of leaves everywhere. Finally found the culprits and counted close to 20 of these guys.

They don't have time to dance or mingle cuz they so busy eating and pooping. Are they good guys or bad guys? The number one question is what will I grow up to be? Somebody , please, tell me this are some sort of butterfly and not Japanese beetle larva somebody suggested.

Got a couple of photo's hopefully somebody can please help. If they butterflies I wil let them munch and move the last few not infected away to save my pods and they can the rest, if they bad, I need to get them now. Never seen these ebfore here. : ( : (

another

no tiem for me they to busy at the buffet.

The photos are a little blurry... it might help the experts here if you could also describe them in words... or perhaps you could crop and enlarge the portion of your first photo that seems to have one in better focus (near the top of the photo, just to the right of center).

JB larvae are white grubs that live in the ground, so at least that's not what they are. :-)

I can't see the photos either...they are too blurry.

Skippers and hairstreaks use hibiscus/mallow species as larval hosts...but again, it's impossible to get a fix on any of the caterpillars.

~ Cat

They're Hibiscus Sawfly larvae, Atomacera decepta.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/4413

Thanks everybody for helping. : ) I tried to tak emore photo's but they weren't much better and my puter throwing fits with trying to upload again.

Clay.... That is the eatign machines alright. The first pic on the link is them big time. Thank you for sendign a link. It rainign on and of f right now, but Sevein dust here I come. Only butterflie s and moths aloud free " grub" so to speak here. They can munch to their hearts content.

Not invite me to a party. ... ( hurump! ) Well I gonna cancel their dance cards her e in the next little bit. : )

Thank you again so much folks. Appreciate it and so do my plants and future butterflies! : )

Well... dah.... Stupid attack going on here. Guess I was seeing " green" when I foudn out what they were. By the time I got out there, common sens e took back over.

Got out there with the seven and realized I couldn't use it, just encase I have some butterfly eggs I missed, so scouted each plant and did the pull and squish routine.

Guess I will have to scout them everyday. : ( I don't mind squishing oen or two gros s larvae at a time, but my tender stomach starts quiverign when there more.

Glad I went back out when I did, my hummer was sayign hello for the day and grabbing a snack.

Thanks again folks!

Good! Using Sevin / Carbaryl is kind of extreme for these.... there are permethrin based 'cides that are a lot safer for you and any pets you might have. But even those harm beneficial insects like bees and butterflies.
If you get grossed out squishing 'em, you could try brushing them off into a cup of soapy water - my problem with that is getting it confused with my coffee. Not good!

For close up photos of bugs I suggest using your macro setting on your camera (often has a flower pic near the right setting). Good luck with your critters!

Hhhmmm Mike, a few sawflies with your morning coffee...sounds yummy!

LOL.... Clay.... Having to clean y monitor from chokign on my coffee. with your comments. Thask for the tip on the soapy water. Got plenty of that. I really ha d to laugh cuz I take my cup of coffe e with me when I go outside. Many a tiem I put it down to look at a plant whiel scoutign or checkign developments and blooms only to pick it up and find I'm not the only one drinkign it. Your sooooooo right. Not Good!!!!!!!

I did some research on the bug and foudn a site that said us e CONSERVE, and didn't fidnmuch on it other than it a spinoiad and nto sur e if that woudl hurt my good wilflife. So will keep pickign and usign the soap.

Pugs. gues s I need to try and pul the manual out for this camera and see if it says anythign about macro shots. Never had a digital camera before and don't ee no flower logo. At least I finally learnign to keep my big feet out of each photo and I get one good shot out of a hundre d taken now so I doing a bit better.

Me and electric things just don't seem to get along. I so afraid if I touch anythign other than the shoot , on and off button and the delte , I may mess the camera up. I am really that uncoordinated and ignorant with one. : )

Glad you figured out what they were and took care of them!

The macro setting or button does often have a flower symbol -- looks like a short-stemmed tulip with a pair of little leaves at the bottom. It will let you get closer to your subject and it shortens the depth of field, meaning that the camera will focus more specifically on things within an inch or two of your subject's distance from the camera.

Say you're taking a photo of a flowerbud. With the regular setting, your camera will focus on the flowerbud (it usually does this better when you put the flowerbud in the middle of the viewfinder screen), and the leaves and other background items in the photo will also be in pretty good focus, even if they are many feet beyond the flowerbud. Also, with the regular setting, you may only be able to get within a couple of feet of your subject (varies with the camera, but mine gives me a flashing light if I try to focus on something that's too close).

With the macro setting, if that same flowerbud is in focus, only the leaves that are nearby will be sharply focused with it, and the background will be a bit blurry (this can be a good thing). Also, you will be able to get the camera lens within just a few inches of the flowerbud, so it will look much larger in your photo.

Sometimes my camera is fussy and doesn't want to focus on what I'm trying to photograph (I end up with a photo of a fuzzy flowerbud and a sharply focused leaf), and then it can work better to just take a regular photo from a little further away and use the "crop" function of my photo software to blow up the part of the photo that has the flowerbud in it.

I'll bet somebody has explained this much better in one of the threads over in the photography forum, so my apologies if I've only confused you more!

Critteroligist..... Nope you didn't confuse me at all. I appreciate you taking the tiem to explain. I do notice sometimes when I trying to photgraph something and get it lined in the viewfinder that I have a flashing light going. Maybe that what I am doing to.

I really want to learn, so I can take some pics of the butterflie s and hummers. They so fast and I so camera challenged that I never get a shot off, I just look at them, appreciate their beauty and wish other folks could se e what I was seeign at the time.

The last camera I had that I was able to take pics with was oen of them Poloraid 600 jobs that spit the picture out the front. Got it for my graduation from High School back in '72. Am I like behind the time s or what. This digital make s me dizzy . LOL

Would you belive I don't even own a cell phone cuz I can't figure the elctronics of them either out. Am I pathetic or what. : )

Was readign a thread somewhere where folks was talkign about technology today and I have to agre e with them. There so much beauty we woudl still be missign without it. And thank goodnes s for the folsk who do knwo how and can take pics and a double thank you to them for sharign them. : )

You're welcome! With regard to those speedy little critters, some cameras have a setting where they will take a "burst" of several photos in quick succession... I use that when I'm having trouble getting photos of active little birds, or even kids with fleeting smiles... I take a few "burst" shots, and somewhere in there I know I'm going to have a good photo!

Glad you got those buggerd id'd. About the only thing I find eating my hibiscus are wooly bears!!! UGH!!! Where's a good hairstreak when I want one? :o)

~ Cat