"Annaid" wrote in
:

I just found a small red and black bug/beetle in the roots of some of
my plants. They are tiny, about 1/8 inch or maybe smaller in length.
The head is black and the body is bright red. The body is sort of the
shape of a candle light bulb. I am pretty sure these bugs cleaned off
the leaves of a columbine plant I found in my yard ( I didn't know
there was a columbine there) and I found some of these bugs at the
base of the plant, down near the roots. they seem to have emitted
some sort of 'spittle' around the base of the plant. Nearby I was
pulling up rogue raspberry plants and found more of these bugs/beetles
at the roots of these plants.

they sound like lily beetles. do you have any tiger lillies? they're
mak8ing swiss cheese of mine. i haven't seen any on the columbines... i'd
suspect with the recent weather slugs ate the columbine.
oh, & the spittle may be spittle bugs, which are a whole different bug.

I live in zone 4, NH.

um...zone 5, on the edge of 6 actually. i have pockets of zone 7 or a
really whacked magnolia

Does anyone recognized the description of these bugs? Suggestions
for defense against these bugs?

a bucket of soapy water & kids. one cent per drowned bug
lee

--
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate
between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital
connection between them. -Leo Buscaglia, author (1924-1998)