I'd been seeing a really discouraging amount of this
around...which means I had too many of these.
Way, way too many. Meet the
Aztec Spur-throat, also known as Aidemona azteca.
I think of them as little monsters. Most of the ones shown here are less than a quarter inch. They may be tiny eating machines but they pack a huge appetite. Though Aztec Spur-throats reportedly prefer flowers, the ones around here seem plenty content to broadmindedly gnaw holes in the leaves of just about everything I have growing.
At their most colorful as youngsters in their various stages (referred to as instars) it is not known why these little tykes are so distinctive. The best guess is to avoid predation by birds as their patterning mimics other common garden occupants that sting. Because reportedly, birds think they're quite tasty.
"Order up!". I tried to be patient and allow the birds around here to handle (read:eat) this problem on their own but honestly, my feathered friends weren't getting the job done. I was forced to take matters into my own hands. Literally. I made multiple trips to every garden bed each day carrying along my inelegant Soap Bath of Death. Bent over like some oversized crane, I did my best to spot and then dunk every grasshopper I could, attempting to knock the population down to more manageable levels.
Not what I consider a pleasant way to experience my outdoor spaces.
Which is why I'm relieved to report, after several weeks of effort, that now when I go out and view my garden beds, every
single plant is no longer riddled with holes. A few of the fastest growing plants even have a couple of leaf sets up top that are beautifully intact.
Many (many!) grasshoppers routinely escape my hunting expeditions so there is no worry I'm decimating a population. As attractive as they are - and I'll admit they are quite striking - these Aztec Spur-throats are considered to be "quite common where they occur". I'm just helping them out a bit with family planning. I won't get all of them and they won't get to eat holes in all my plants. That's a fair trade as far as I'm concerned.
