Image of Gargaphia decoris Drake 1931

Description:

Adult bugs on woolly nightshade outside the greenhouses of the Tamaki campus of Landcare Research. These bugs were released as a biocontrol agent for this weed, and they have defoliated the plants. Landcare Research entomologist Chris Winks told me that the bugs are proving very good at defoliating the woolly nightshades in the shade, but not so much the robust plants growing out in the open.