The Green Fruit Beetle

There is a wonderful gardener in Tucson named George Brookbank. He has written a few books on desert gardening and has a blog (http://communitygardensoftucson.org/blog/) that is a great resource for me when I'm confused by Tucson "seasons." I'm pretty impressed with this because he looks like he is almost 90 years old.

Last weekend, we went peach picking - yes, peach picking in Tucson! - about 30 minutes north of us. We noticed what looked like giant Japanese beetles huddled on rotting fruit, and I immediately thought of my mom and how much she loves those little guys. :)

This morning I ripped out from our garden the tomatoes, cucumbers, and most of the peppers in preparation for the winter vegetables (which, for us, will be beets, broccoli, carrots, leeks, mesclun greens, and peas). Our serrano pepper plants continue to produce beautifully, so I left them in. Upon careful inspection, however, I noticed three of these:

My immediate reaction was disgust, but it was quickly replaced by fascination. What beautiful, intricate creatures! I know, as a gardener, I should probably hate this pest, but I couldn't help but be awed by it. I moved them to our compost pile - the one that doesn't get mixed with garden soil - and started thinking about the symbiosis of pests and gardeners. Pests (and bugs in general) seem so unncessary, yet surely God had some sort of purpose in mind for them.

This afternoon I was reading one of George Brookbank's books, and I discovered that the grub I discovered was the very same beetle we saw at the peach orchard. I think they were a bit confused; they're only supposed to like fruit, but they were happily hanging out with the serranos.

Can you find the grub in this picture?