Recently, all the blossoms on all my lobelia plants have been eaten by some type of pest. The stems have been surgically cut and every blossom has been removed. I was able to find a small silvery grey moth nearby on another plant, so I don't know for sure if this is one of the culprits. It is about 5/8 inches with mottled grey wings and is lighter grey underneath. Is anyone familiar with this problem?
Sounds more like a rat or mouse. Deer and rabbit also like lobelia. A moth isn't going to eat your flowers, a caterpillar is going to eat some foliage.
Thanks for the reply. The plants themselves aren't damaged, just the blossoms, which have all(!) been chewed or cut off but not pulled off. It's very weird. That is why I surmised, perhaps incorrectly, that it was done by a flying insect (but what?). As I live in the city, it wasn't a deer. I don't think it could be rats (poor vision) but I'll put out some sticky paper and see if I catch anything. It's curious that whatever is doing the damage has ignored all other species of flowers. Could earwigs be the culprits? Jim
Some cutworms are acrobats climbing high to snip off tender growth then back down to burrow into the earth or mulch.
