Leaf Feeders
Brian Kunkel, University of Delaware, Bugwood.org
Redheaded flea beetle adults are 1/4 inch long with a black body and red head (but it can be difficult to see). They have large femurs on their back legs that allow them to hop, as the name implies. Larvae are soil-based, have a creamy color and can be up to 1/2 inch long. This pest overwinters as eggs in the soil, and larvae hatch out to feed in the root zone, before pupating to emerge as adults. In Delaware and Maryland this first group of adults emerges when Southern magnolia is in bloom. A second generation occurs later in the summer. Adults feed on leaves causing extensive shot-hole damage.
Sap Feeders
Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org
Comstock mealybugs are small, oval, waxy pests that feed on the sap of plants. Adult females are 3/16 inch long; the body is a brownish color but is coated with a white wax. They produce honeydew as fecal material which can also encourage the growth of black sooty mold on the plant. There are two generations per year, with overwintering eggs hatching in the spring. Spring nymphs feed and mature by July. They mate and then produce another generation that matures by September.