They ate some of my yellow coneflowers, too. On the perennials forum, some are complaining they were eating their coneflowers. I did find one on a daylily. There's hardly a plant I haven't found them on. So in a bad outbreak, they would eat those, too. They like rose blooms the best, but they did a lot of damage way high up on my birch clump. Can't tell for sure if they've been in the top of by huge flowering crab or not, no telltale leaves that I can distinguish from the dead birch leaves, but people have had trouble w/theirs. Here are the other plants I have found them on, some only one or two: Shasta daisies, white phlox, purple phlox, once bloomer Harison, once bloomer unknown, potted plumbago, pink geraniums, clematis, stargazer and white oriental lilies, cherry trees (will get bigger, leaves leathery and seem to prefer the new, tender growth), and pussywillow which will get too large to pick off. Things have gotten better since I took the traps down, but I'm still finding some, afraid to say it seems to be easing up. I think the only way traps can be more effective is have a large perimeter and well away from anything they will eat and place them so that they won't have to fly over anything they like on the way. And there would still be some because the traps don't snag them all, and I changed the bags once a week. Somebody wrote that the way the traps get them is if they fly into the baffles hard enough, they will drop down into the top of the bag, don't know if that is true, but many would just play around the tops and bait, don't know where they went after that. Even if I cut all the buds off, they will still be on the foliage but maybe not as much because it is the blooms that attract them primarily. There is no way the city would let me have turkeys or chickens, and I fear I couldn't care for them properly the rest of the year, plus the streets. Sorry you in z5 central IL with so many roses have so many w/no letup in sight. That is awful and so time-consuming no matter how good you get at snagging them. Are you going out just once a day? I figure if you don't go out at least twice a day, preferably at noon and around sunset, the ones that do get in also serve to attract more. The reason I say that is I was going out in the earlier morning, finding some, then back out around noon when there were lots more.

All you can really do is watch new cuttings or plants. It isnÂt obvious at first that a cutting or new plant is infested. Examine carefully any cutting that fails to root. Keeping your cuttings away from your established plants might be a good idea. This is a guess on my part, but because the beetle seems to prefer weak diseased trees, I would be suspicious of any cutting that looks weak or scraggly. If you do find a larva or beetle, photograph it before destroying it. Then notify the person you received the cutting from and send the picture with your note. Be tactful, the overwhelming majority of people who sell or trade plants would never knowingly put someone elseÂs treasured plants at risk. You are doing them a favor by letting them know their own personal plants that they treasure or the plants that provide their livelihood are in danger. The best defense seems to be to keep your plants in good health. Any new plants or cuttings need to be watched until it is clear they are healthy. The problem is serious, but not as bad as it first appeared last year. Karen, I wouldnÂt be too worried about your cuttings from Evelyn. After what sheÂs been through because of this, her cuttings are far less likely to be infested than cuttings from someone who has never heard of plumeria borers. Because of the damage that occurred to her reputation, she is probably hyper-vigilant in order to prevent it from happening again. Philip

You found it. There appear to be only 3 Xylotrechus in FL. This is from the FSCA Florida Checklist: (by the way, I completely agree with you Larry. It is difficult to ID even some very distinctive and prominent beetles on the web, much less get any useful information. At least the more distinctive moths are readily available.) Xylotrechus Chevrolat X. colonus (Fabricius), the rustic borer, TX-MN-ME-FL (ALA, DIX, DUV, GAD, HEN, HIG, JEF, LEE, LEO, LIB, MARI, ORA, PAS, PUT, SEM, SUW, VOL); in hardwoods X. convergens LeConte, eNAmer, FL (LIB) (Record from R. Turnbow collection) X. s. sagittatus (Germar), AZ-MB-ME-FL (ALA, BRO, CAL, CLA, COLU, DAD, DUV, GAD, GIL, HIG, HIL, JEF, LEE, LEO, LIB, ORA, PIN, PUT, SEM, SRO, TAY), nMexico; in Pinus

Beautiful picture! It's a scarab - actually a dung beetle, in the genus Phanaeus - not sure of the species, maybe vindex. They are surprisingly common anywhere in the southern US where there are cattle. They are surprisingly good flyers, in spite of their rotund shape. Tucker