After checking, I have confirmed that it IS the tersa sphinx moth, and from what I've read most places, it is considered a pollinator. Many photos of it are shown visiting brugs, nicotiana and other flowers, usually at night, but often enough during daylight to make it a good one to photograph. Hope you enjoy yours. I think it's a beauty! Marcia

conifers are commonly known as evergreen .... i swear a conifer can be dead for months.. before it browns and loses its needles ... ergo .. the brown tissue probably developed over the winter.. probably due to the transport and transplant to your garden ... this fly .. no matter what it is.. hatched a few hours ago ... how can it be anywhere in the equation as to why this is the second or third BHSpruce you are having trouble with???? and how it may be related to tissue that browned months ago ??? are you hoping for better answers over here .. instead of the conifer forum.. where we usually hang out... lol ... good luck on the ID ... knowledge is power.. but i dont think its going to answer the browning problem .... ken PS: boy thats a lot of whitish mulch ... do these things get any protection from the sun any time of the year ???? reflective sun ... in winter .. can be very problematic ... perhaps sunburning the needles.. not only from above.. but from below with that mulch and snow ... i know there is nothing you can do about it.. with the drainage field ... and i suspect that once the plant gets more 'established' ... it will be able to overcome it all ...

They do damage!! I had one of those on top of my thai basil one day a week or so ago. I left the little guy there because he was remarkably colorful and I did not see any damage. The next day there were 3 or 4 big holes on the same leaf, with the little bugger still there. I left him there and the next day a few more holes, about 1/4 inch on other leaves!! Actually a lot of damage for such a little critter. I believe it is a baby Katydid. Here is a link that might be useful: This?

Thank you Tucker. In my little gardening book it had a picture of aphids but they were brown. Now I know they come in yellow too! They are only on my one plant. I inspected all my other plants. It should be easy enough to take care of. Well, I'm sure I'll be back with another mystery bug one day! Thanks:-)