by Bill
(Pittsburgh Pa)
Lightning bug shape and size. Black on top and orange on sides. Eating Sedum plants. Larvae are small and grayish in color. Sorry, no picture.
Hope you can help.
Hi Bill, a picture would definitely help – is this a beetle? A moth?? You say larvae, so I’m thinking that it must be some kind of moth, but from your description, I don’t really know what it could be specifically.
You also haven’t indicated exactly which Sedum it’s eating, and there are a lot of insects that hone in on specifically one kind of plant to lay their eggs – very seldom on Sedum.
I would say, keep an eye on the situation, and if it looks like they’re defoliating the whole plant, then you may have to take action – or do what I do, and enjoy the show; it’s nature in action, close up and personal.
Generally, it seems as though the defoliation is severe enough to kill the plant, but most plants have the ability to replace them and certainly losing a few leaves isn’t a big deal to them in the larger scheme of things.
Jacki
