ecently a landscaper brought me a bag of crape myrtle leaves that looked like they'd seen a shredder. Inside the bag were several insects with a blue/gray waxy coating. Closer inspection showed they were "Sri Lanka" weevils - a new kid on the block, so to speak, and a hungry one at that.This one-quarter inch long insect, introduced into Broward County in 2000, has been eating its way north through Florida. Some areas south of Manatee County are heavily infested. These are the first ones I've seen here, but where there's one, certainly more are present.The weevil feeds on a very wide range of ornamentals and fruit trees, with over 68 known host plants. You never see just one - always several chewing mainly on the newest leaves. The weevil notches a scalloped section from the side of a leaf; several at work turn the plant into a ragged mess.Control measures include sprays of insecticides such as carbaryl (Sevin). Or swat them off with a tennis racket followed by a few stomps.Pink hibiscus mealybug update: I've already written a couple of articles about this nasty pest, but I want to give an update since its population seems to be exploding due to hot temperatures and its rapid reproduction rate.If you have hibiscus that are covered in white waxy masses, and new leaves and flower buds are stunted and gnarled, then they are most likely infested with the pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM).As PHM sips the sap from flower buds, leaves and soft stems, it injects a toxin that causes the distortions. High populations can stunt and outright kill plants. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services still recommends the following actions to landscape/pest management companies and homeowners in Manatee County:

• Report the location to the state's Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Hotline: (888) 397-1517. A state inspector may visit the location to confirm the infestation. This is followed by a release of tiny beneficial, parasitic wasps that lay eggs on the mealybugs. The eggs hatch inside them and suck their fluids, killing them from the inside out.

• Homeowners who demand picture-perfect landscapes probably don't want to hear this, but insecticides have a limited ability to control PHM. Please avoid pressuring landscape managers to "spray anything" just to get rid of 'em. A magic silver bullet in the form of an insecticide bottle does not exist for this pest.

• Research has shown that the beneficial wasps provide the best control. Their parasitic feeding on the mealybugs is extremely effective, but they must be given a chance to actually do their dirty work, which takes two to three months after their release on insecticide-free hibiscus.

• The beneficial wasps are expensive for the Florida Department of Agriculture to rear. They cannot be released if insecticides have been sprayed on the hibiscus because the residues will also kill the tiny wasps.

• Prune off heavily infested sections of plants. Please double-bag the clippings for disposal with household trash (not yard waste). Tie the bag tightly.

• Please cover landscape debris in trucks to prevent the mealybug (and other pests, too) from blowing out and infesting new properties.

• Leave about 25 percent of infested plants unpruned so that, once released, the wasps have some of these mealybugs to complete their reproductive cycle.

For more information, go to manateehort.ifas.ufl.edu and click on Pink Hibiscus Mealybug in Hot Topics.

Peggy Dessaint is an extension agent in commercial landscape horticulture at the University of Florida-Manatee County Extension Service in Palmetto. Send your gardening questions to: Peggy Dessaint, Manatee County Extension Service, University of Florida/IFAS, 1303 17th St. W., Palmetto, FL 34221.