I'm not terribly fond of beetles, or weevils; they are frequent unwelcome dinner guests on the plants I intended for my butterflies.

Jeff Rolfe, thanks for identifying these pesky creatures.  First he emailed me this: "I was curious to know if you have had any luck in identifying the black and white beetles? I live in Fort Lauderdale and have an infestation of them eating my sunflowers."

Before I had a chance to reply, he answered his question with this: "I found some information on the black and white beetle and its actually a weevil.
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/weevil-pest-alert.html "

Yup, that looks like our bug.  Under the microscope, mine are the non-native ones. I've had good luck getting rid of them with my home made bug trap: open up a ziplock baggie, hold it open under the plant where the weevil is, tap the plant. They drop to the ground when disturbed, and if you practice, you can get them to drop right into the bag. I give the bag a shake to get them in the bottom, and squeeze it shut above them so they can't get out while I'm catching more.  When I'm too disgusted to continue (it is a rather creepy chore!) I pour some rubbing alcohol into the baggie, zip it shut, and set it aside until they're dead, at which point I throw them away. I'll have to review my emails; I recall that someone told me to put an old sheet under the plant and shake the whole thing. You'd have to pick it up rather quickly.... (2008 update - I still have LOTS of these bugs!)