"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
I have no way to post a picture so I am sorry you will have to work from
1000 words as they say. I am in Australia where it is high summer, hot
and
showery at present.

A grub that I have never seen before just stripped a fig plant in a pot.
All the leaves are reduced to paper thin lace, this took about 24 hrs for
a
2ft (60cm) plant as it was fine beforehand.

The attackers are up to about 3/4in (18mm) long with segmented bodies and
a
pair of legs on each segment I think, my eyesight is not that good, lots
of
legs anyway. Each one has a similar number of segments, about 12. Some
are
smaller and presumeably given enough food they would all grow bigger.

They are yellowish on the underside and dark grey/brown on top and
somewhat
hairy. One end is blunt and seems to have black mouth parts, the other,
the
tail I think, is slightly pointed. Oh where is my binocular microscope
.....

As they appeared so quickly I assume they hatched recently and have grown
very fast. If you are able to identify the grub can you also tell me what
the adult looks like so I can keep an eye open for them.

David

Hi, David
You could even take one of the bugs in a sealed container/jar to the local
nursery
or the CSIRO if you have one nearby. I'm sure one of those could help if
they know their
business.
Cheers, Boozo in Adelaide, S.A.