These come every year. Now that I am growing more irises, I think that they want to increase their numbers. What are they, and how can I eliminate them?

If nobody here can identify them, I would try the pests and diseases forum
https://garden.org/forums/view...

Looks like some kind of beetle?

Evelyn, see if you can get one in a jar and take it to your extension office. They will either ID it for you or find someone who can. You will find out its life cycle, what its purpose is and how to eradicate it. Good luck.

Having absolutely zero experience in identifying beetles, I did a quick search on google and found a website for identifying beetles
https://www.insectidentificati...

I think oil beetles are a contender:

Oil Beetles
https://www.insectidentificati...
https://www.insectidentificati...

I found a similar beetle called a false oil beetle too

False Oil Beetles
http://www.jasonsteelwildlifep...

Robin ~ Maybe I will catch some in the morning, as I will be going to town tomorrow anyway. Then I can ask the Master Gardeners.

I have handled them with my bare hands to no ill effect, but try and throw them on the ground and squish them. There are so many now since I have more irises. They like to eat the flowers. Also I might have thrips in addition as they like to eat the pollen! Now I see why the pollen is gone from some as they look ravaged, not just bare. Maybe I will collect them too.

I often get thrips on my irises too

Thrips generally target my roses, but they decided they liked 'Whisper Her Name' last year as well. Pests around my place seem to have distinct preferences... the aphids go for 'Dark Passion' and 'Thunderstick' more than any of the other Irises.

Evelyn, Sorry you have these mysterious beetles(?) eating your flowers. There's always something, it seems.

those are Malachite Flower Beetles -- a voracious pest of virtually anything blooming. Be careful of handling them -- they can spray an irritating acid on your hands if not protected. They are difficult to control, aside from knocking them off or picking them off. I've had some luck with Japanese beetle traps, but only some.
Aside from identifying them, I haven't had much luck in controlling them.

Well, that sounds grim.

Timothy ~ I have handled them a lot with my bare hands...to no ill effects. Still, after I read about similar beetles, I just knock them off and step on them now. There are several different kinds of things in there now...thrips, something that looks like a cucumber beetle and various small flying insects.

I will be more diligent in taking them off sooner as I usually see them on the wilted blossoms, but not always. If it isn't the bugs, the heat melts the blossoms in one day.

"Malachite Flower Beetle"?! Beautiful name for what sounds like a horrid pest!

I'm surprised you're having thrip problems with your irises, Evelyn. Here, they go after certain light colored daylilies...they are thrip magnets!

Good luck with your insect problems... (I think the spider mites or chiggers or whatever are out in force this year...I was deadheading daylilies an hour ago, and just now had to take off my watch band because of itching, because there are now two bites under where the band was! )

Yeah, I saw one on one of my roses, and he or she proceeded to eat the blossom until I knocked it off! This seems like a good year for bugs!

Time was when I'd have sprayed insecticide on them, but except for Cornell spray to control powdery mildew on my peonies, I now use no sprays whatsoever. A couple of years ago I ordered lady bugs, and have found out they are marvelous for controlling other pest insects. I also carefully conserve all praying mantis cases when I trim back my dead mum foliage at the beginning of spring. Then I keep an eye out for praying mantis babies and distribute them around the gardens so they are where they need to be, and don't end up eating each other. This has turned out to give much better control of pests than sprays ever did. The problem with sprays is that they kill all the beneficial insects along with the others, and that really puts the ecosystem out of whack, seriously.

grannysgarden said:Evelyn, see if you can get one in a jar and take it to your extension office. They will either ID it for you or find someone who can. You will find out its life cycle, what its purpose is and how to eradicate it. Good luck.

Bonnie ~ I did that, but no response. They just seem to eat flowers, roses, too! So I have been "squishing". The blossoms are gone now and most of the bugs too.

it's not possible for me to tell what kind of beetles you had there Evelyn

just for the record, though, Malachite Beetles are mostly predatory--hang out in flowers and hunt other bugs that visit the flowers, but they will eat pollen and nectar. Their larvae are also carnivorous.
http://eol.org/pages/389/overv...

if your beetles are eating the plants they are probably something else

TBMan said:those are Malachite Flower Beetles -- a voracious pest of virtually anything blooming. Be careful of handling them -- they can spray an irritating acid on your hands if not protected. They are difficult to control, aside from knocking them off or picking them off. I've had some luck with Japanese beetle traps, but only some.
Aside from identifying them, I haven't had much luck in controlling them.

I have been diligent in squishing (with gloves on), and now that the bloom the time is over, I see very few. I watch for those every day, on my daily inspections. (Roses, too!)

Oh, neat - a tip acorn from Evelyn! Thanks Evelyn!