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Butterfly Garden

Bugs Eating my Rue ( not caterpillars)

15 years ago

I recently found out that these tiny black and white bugs(1 mm long) were eating my rue.

It looks as if they are eating the outside layer of the leaves leaving their poop on the way.

Sorry about not having a picture, my camera is not very good and there is no way I would be able to take a picture of a super small bug.

Do you have a clue what they are?

If so, how do I get rid of them?

crazy4bugs :)

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Comments (5)

texaspuddyprint
15 years ago
Hmm...I have plenty of rue growing in my yard and only the Black Swallowtails use it. Can't think of any bug that would be eating it. Are you sure they're not first instar caterpillars? Perhaps you can get a photo to post that would help with the ID. I know those little critters are hard to see so hopefully there's a macro setting on the camera?

If you're sure they're not cats then you can add some dish soap or detergent to a spray bottle of water and squirt it on your plants. Wait a few minutes then wash it off with a sprayer hose. If the bugs don't die then repeat it for a few more days making sure to wash the plants off real good.

If you have caterpillars on it as well as the bugs then take some cuttings and set the caterpillars on them in the mean time.

~ Cat
tdogmom
15 years ago
Could they possibly be Anise Swallowtail larvae? They start out as 'Oreo cookie' coloured caterpillars: black-white-black before they become greenish. Check out my blog pics under Anise Swallowtail.

Here is a link that might be useful: tdogmom's blog
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msalicep
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Daisy Mojica
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
The rue plant we have inside the house started getting these little bugs, they are like a very very light pink color, they dont flight when i touch them, they just move away but not jumping, they are also smaller than an ant.
Diane Levesque
8 months ago
Those look like aphids to me, and yes they come in black; larvae leave white husks when they molt. For those of you who haven't seen anything except swallowtails on your Rue, there's a micro-sized caterpillar that's been homesteading on mine, and it's like a micro-bagworm--it builds either a house or a cocoon on the stuff and I'm not sure if it's actually eating it or not. I've got about a dozen of these things colonizing.

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?what to do with this little guy?

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