I was totally grossed out by this sight the other day. Some creature was having a great time boring inside the leaves of the Echeverias and the large-leaved Cotyledon macrantha. You can see it inside the leaf pictured at about 7 o'clock position. Fortunately it doesn't bore into the stems, only the leaves and as bad as the poor Echeveria looks, it should survive.
This is what the miscreant looks like:
Getting really fat, this seems to be a grub rather than a worm which means that it is a beetle larva, not a moth or butterfly.
I found this moth pupa under a leaf which looks a lot like it may be related to that grub, or perhaps it is just an innocent bystander. Google doesn't turn up any moths that attack succulents that have similar larvae although I did find an American Cactus Borer member of the longhorn beetle family that could be it.
What is it doing in South Africa? It could be a plant pest imported as biocontrol for one of the many invasive cactus species in our country or something that arrived in a contaminated plant and has spread.
Have any other succulent growers here had this one attack their plants?
Oh, what a pity!
And this snail had a good breakfast, had lunch and had dinner! And not burst from gluttony :-))
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
And then he was squashed!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
He deserved it !!!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This is interesting, you did well to spot the pest.
The whole world is contaminated with exotic pest's that have been transported from one place to another.
succulents are so soft and vulnerable I have never seen a pest attack one.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
So true! I will post pictures of the snails and slugs handiwork soon, now that it is raining and they are about. They are bad news for succulents
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Do you have a place to bring it to to be identified?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I have posted it in an online group, I am waiting to hear back from them
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Our cabbage butterfly caterpillars are very voracious. Literally eat completely young shoots of cabbage heads. We have to deal with them with all available means.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I have seen their work, it's bad!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Sometimes gardening is very much like detective work, trying to figure out whats going on with plants and insects.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit