Here is some good info about these critters:
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/PlantFinder/IPM.asp?code=149&group=54&level=s
I have had bug attacks in the past of course but never anything like these bugs. They primarily attack plants of the cabbage family but in my vertical stacker garden, they not only attacked my nine brussel sprouts but also my largest sunflower. I am pretty sure they got into my garden on some Alyssum flowers I bought from the nursery. The alyssum bloomed nicely for about 3 weeks and then a few of them started losing their flowers. I never associated that with bugs. Then one morning, I looked out my kitchen window and noticed one of my brussel sprouts was very wilted. A few minutes later, I also noticed my largest sunflower looked wilted. It was then I found both the bugs and their peculiar looking eggs. The plants looked like they were wilted from lack of water but it was that swarm of bugs that had just sucked the life out of them. Those critters can do a tremendous amount of damage in a very short amout of time.
I did away with the brussel sprouts. The sunflower then became their focal point. It was literally covered with them. I have spent the last few days murdering those rascals with insecticidal soap. I cut way down on their population but they still kept popping up. I noticed more of the alyssum's were losing their flowers. Those suckers were using the alyssums as a hiding and breeding place. So today I did away with about 30 alyssum's and I think I now will be able to control them and eliminate them.
My sunflower looks like it will recuperate. Thats nice because it has one big flower and a whole lot of buds a-fixing to flower. Here is a picture.
