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Apr 18, 2015 4:01 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Hi everyone! I've been scouring the willows, looking for Viceroy caterpillars to no avail. But I do keep finding these weird bugs. In some cases, they've infested the whole tree and I think that's discouraging the butterflies to lay their eggs. I just wondered what they were and if they're good, bad, or indifferent.

Thumb of 2015-04-18/mellielong/37a36f

And I have no idea if this is related or if those things molt, but I also keep seeing these things alongside them.

Thumb of 2015-04-18/mellielong/795202 Thumb of 2015-04-18/mellielong/c8990c
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Apr 19, 2015 4:39 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
It's a cottonwood leaf beetle, Chrysomela scripta :

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/crea...

Not a good guy from the trees' point of view.
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Apr 19, 2015 7:49 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Thanks, Sue! Don't you love the UF webpages? Those beetles sure sound like nasty things and from what I've seen them doing to the willow trees, they are! The willows I saw yesterday weren't too bad but I've seen others just covered in these things. Also, I found it interesting that it was the pupa case I saw. I wouldn't have guessed that but after reading the article I see that it makes sense. I hope my Viceroy butterflies are finding cotton beetle free willows to lay their eggs on.
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