These things are NASTY and they almost dessicated my huckleberry patch (not the berries themselves...just the leaves) before I got to them. I blasted them with soapy water, and they seem to have disappeared...for now. The worst part is, the ants seem to be "milking" them, much as they do with aphids. What ARE they?? What do they become? I normally like bugs--even the "bad" ones--but these little blobs are something only their mothers could love.
These appear to be larvae of a leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), but I have no idea as to the species.
