Might be the dreaded vine weevil.

Oh no! Aaaaargh.

This is crazy. I have just been out after 10pm with a head torch and flashlight trying to find these weevils but not a one to be found. However, up here at this time of year, it does not get that dark. But at least until after midnight and even then, there is still a lot of light around.

Can anyone think of another way to confirm that that this is vine weevil?

The reason I joined GOY in 2008 was to ask about these critters. If you shake the shrub - at night, they fall to the ground in their dozens. I hope they aren't weevils but I'm sure someone will know.

I did go back out last night at 11:30 when it was a bit darker and managed to get 8 of them. Not dozens, unfortunately. I imagine that they were just starting to get active at that time as it was really just beginning to get dark. I would need to get up around 1am on a dull night just now to really have a dark night. It is that light where I live.

I treated the soil around the plants this morning with BugClear Ultra VW this morning and will do that again at the end of August. Hopefully that will take care of the larvae. However, I am not sure about getting up at 1am to try to get more adults.

There are things called nematodes which you water into the soil around the shrub to kill the larvae.

Thanks, I read about those and may try them if the BugClear does not work. I think, however, that I will need to go back out late on night to try to shake more off the shrubs too. I did a lot of clearing up around the shrubs to improve the site generally. Maybe if there is less debris around, there will be less places for the beetles to hide.