Being new to Pelargoniums I am always on the lookout for pests and diseases, I also enjoy ‘shooting’ a nice bug when I find one.
This morning I saw a couple of bright little fellows playing chase on one of my scented Pellies. I was pleased that my old eyes spotted them as they looked a bit like the flower buds. As soon as they knew I was onto them they hid on the underside of a delightfully fragrant leaf, supposed to be Hazelnut ‘flavour’ but I think Dutch plant marketing had been a bit creative with that description.
I went off to grab a camera with a macro lens on it and when I got back one of the bugs had come back topside and was innocently admiring one of the Pelargonium flowers. The other bug was still hiding. The obliging bug stayed around long enough for me to get a few shots and then headed off to admire some other flowers.
A little bit of Googling revealed these to be Cinnamon bugs. There are two subspecies commonly found and mine appear to be Corizus hyoscyami nigridorsum. The all black bit at the tail end is the diagnostic feature.
I thought I had better check if these bugs are a danger to my Pellies and was comforted to find out that although they might do a minor bit of sap sucking they are nothing to worry about. So if you see them on your prize Pellies don’t panic, they are probably just admiring the flowers.