These just appeared this evening....but there's hundreds. Tiny spots of "mud" (can see spot on DH finger), with light orange "shape" under the mud. I've never seen anything like these before. I'm stripping as many leaves as I can before it gets dark. Don't know what to spray with that would kill them. Way too many to pick off.
Has anyone seen these before?
Could you get a clearer image of at least one of these insects? As this plant belongs to the family Solanaceae, the most likely suspect would be a leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of some kind; the larvae of several species cover themselves with their own excrement. Also, your verbal description could be consistent with larvae of certain sawflies in the family Tenthredinidae - see http://tinyurl.com/opmnfj for an example. However, I can find no reference to these insects feeding on Lochroma leaves.
Thanks for response, but I have stripped the leaves off and sprayed remaining plant with Sevin. The wind was blowing last evening, we took 10 pics, and that was the only one that was clear. Last night, I panicked and decided to spray. I looked at plant this morning and there doesn't seem to be anymore. I'll go back out and check again, in case I missed some, tho.
Appreciate the possiblilities. I'll check those also and report back.
Here's today's crop.....
And a closer shot
These do appear to be larvae of leaf beetles, but I am unsure as to their identity. Have a look at the info on the three-lined potato beetle (Lema trilinea) at
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/download-free.asp?strPubID=FS242
Oh, Yuck, Yes! I think you've nailed 'em! I'd never seen anything like that before in my garden, and living in Texas...that says a lot. Thanks so much....
