Yep, Dan you are right. I just flipped the light on out on my balcony and sure enough I saw a HUGE mouse or rat run across it. It ran into my storage unit that is connected to my balcony. I'm too freaked out to open that door and see what kind of damage it's done. Yikes! Not sure how to get rid of it/them but hoping maintenance can! Thanks so much as I was on the lookout for those big wood roaches and even put out boric acid. This would explain why I was still seeing the droppings.

You need to find what is doing the damage first. It looks like caterpillar feeding, although it could be slugs or other chewing insect. If the damage is continuing to spread, they must still be present and probably are not hard to find, so go have a look under the leaves, on the stems, etc. and see if you can find anything. If not, you may need to go out at night with a flashlight to find them since some insects feed at night. Once we know what is causing the damage, then we can decide what to do.

Roseslugs are the immature stages of primitive wasps called sawflies. Roseslugs look more like caterpillars than slugs. They are not slimy and do not have rasping mouthparts like true slugs. Roseslugs differ from caterpillars in that their abdominal legs do not have hooklike crochets to cling on to foliage or twigs. There are several species of sawflies that have been reared from roses in North America. Of these three species appear to cause the most damage: 1) The bristly roseslug, Cladius difformis (Panzer), 2) The roseslug, Endelomyia aethiops Fabricius, and 3) The curled roseslug, Allantus cinctus Linnaeus. The bristly roseslug is found in Europe, Siberia, and in North America in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Atlantic Coast to British Columbia and down into southern California, It does not appear to occur in warm climates. This roseslug is pale green in color and is covered with many hairlike bristles all over the body. A full grown larva measures up to 16 mm (5/8 inch). The females are about 5/8 inch long and are shiny black with yellowish-orange markings on the body. The males are much smaller, about 3/8 inch long. The young larva begins feeding as a skeletonizer on the underside of the leaves and as it matures it chews large holes on the leaves. There are as many as six generations each year. The European roseslug is found from California north to British Columbia and east to Quebec and the Atlantic Coast. It is also found in Europe. The adult sawflies are shiny back with a few yellow makings on the body. They measure about 3/8 inch in length. Females deposit their eggs singly in pockets along the margins of the leaves with their sawlike ovipositor. The larvae skeletonize the upper surface of the leaves. A full grown larva measures up to 13 mm (=1/2 inch). This species appears to have only one generation per year I think Bt would get rid of them or some Sevin the first is organic

Your insect in the pictures is a Soldier Beetle, perhaps in the genus Polemius. These beetles feed on other insects, nectar, and pollen, they do not chew leaves. The damage to those leaves could be from a variety of other insects; try checking at night also.