Vivian,

Those are June bugs and yes they will eat fig, persimmon, and pecan leaves. I have them in my yard too. They are party insects who come out at night to gorge themselves on leaves and to mate. In the morning they fall to the ground and bury themselves in the grass/soil. In the morning, Black birds patrol under my fig trees to eat them before they hide in the grass. Sometimes they are so numerous that they will completely strip off all of the leaves on a young tree. They can be killed by spraying the ground beneath the tree with an insecticide just before dark as they begin to emerge for another night time party.

Dan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your fast answer. I have seen June bugs for all the years we've lived here, but never thought about what they eat! Seeing them eating the fig leaves last year was a surprise--So much so, I couldn't believe I was seeing June bugs. I really never looked at a June bug up close, so I didn't notice how they look before. I can see them clearly through the plastic sandwich bag.

What kind of insecticide is used to spray under the trees that won't hurt us walking on it, or weeding under them?

I guess I'll just keep going out and picking them off the trees and the lone pepper plant.

And here I thought they were harmless light bugs!

I know I always hate when one flies into my hair and gets stuck. When I grab it to pull it out of my hair, it invaiably grabs onto me, which throws me into a case of the frissons, but good!

One year, a long time ago now, I raised two baby possums and when they were weaned, I would catch June bugs in a Dixie cup and feed them to the babies. They loved them and would grab them from the cup and crunch them up like popcorn! All my little Yorkies loved them, as well and would run around the patio crunching them up as fast as they could catch them. Oh--Yech!

Vivian

I was told to use either Sevin or Malathion......I prefer to use Sevin.

Dan