Hi,

I am trying to identify what this plant pest is, on one of my outdoor flower plants (I live in RI).

The bug is maybe a few millimeters in length with a trunk that is bright red and large relative to its head and remaining parts. It has a black underside and fairly long antennae. Basically, it looks somewhat like a ladybug with long antennae and without the black spots.

There are maybe 10-15 of them on the plant, and they tend to fly away when disturbed. It seems they have cut small, circular holes in the middle of the leaves of the plant, so I guess it's a cutting insect and not a sucking insect. It is easily visible and doesn't seem to reside on the underleaf of the plant, so I'm thinking it's probably not a spider mite.

Any ideas what this is and how to save the plant? Will common pesticides kill them? Thanks for any help/suggestions...

Joe

take a few, or one to your neighboor hood plant shop and show them.....plenty of options as far as bug spray, just make sure you wet your plant before using....best to wait till it rains then spray all over....that will fix your problem....