powdery white beetle in Florida
Hi, I live in South Florida and found two of these in my daughter’s little playhouse outside in the yard. They’re quite small — just a bit bigger than a lady bug. They are a dull, powdery white. I can’t find them online anywhere. Do you know what they are? (The photos are also attached.) Many thanks,
Cindy Glover, Lake Worth, FL
Hi Cindy,
Your insect is a Little Leaf Notcher Weevil, Myllocerus undatus. It is not a native species and has been reported from Florida. BugGuide has an excellent image, and a Florida Pest Alert Website lists 68 plants that can be damaged by this invasive species from Sri Lanka.
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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination
Should I report the leaf notcher weevil? I have several on my orange tree. I live in the Tampa Bay area.
It will not hurt to report them.
I have them all over my yard too and now spiders have made horrendous webs in most of all my trees seemingly to catch the leaf notchers. Does anyone know if the spiders will leave if they eat up the leaf notchers?
How do get rid of these little pest
We do not provide extermination advice, but perhaps one of our readers has suggestions.
I use food grade diatomaceous earth for natural pest control in my yard, organic garden and even carpets, it is also excellent for human and animal internal parasites. It is not a chemical and is completely safe I take it twice a day as do my cats. It kills all insectcs and worms but not earthworms! You can read a free PDF manual on it or watch a video on natureswisdom.net. The way it kills is mechanical NOT chemical!!! It is a micro sized particle that is almost as hard as diamonds from fossils of diatoms and also carries a strong electrical charge , it gets inside the pests and literally breaks them apart from the inside. The charge attracts toxins, esp toxic halogens from your body as well. I have gotten off 17 medications using this and this was documented by the VA!!! No more migraines, arthritis, asthma, seizures, anxiety, depression and more!!! I also take 5 shots of coconut oil every day and eat only organic and grass fed/free range animals fedNON GMO, I hope this helps!
will they hurt pets?
To the best of our knowledge, they will not hurt pets.
Are they harmful to humans or do they bite?
To the best of our knowledge, they do not bite.
I have them on several small trees. I pick them off by hand. They were tricky little bugs… When you go to grab them they just fall to the ground. I hold a Ziploc bag below them and they drop right in. I go out once a day to get them and after a few days their numbers really drop. That may not work for large trees, but on my small lychee and Barbados cherry trees, that seems to work the best.