Bougainvillea Pest

This morning a lady called who was observing foliage damage to her bougainvillea plant and wanted to know what might be eating the foliage. She spoke with one of our Master Gardener interns who asked me. I gave her some questions to ask to help narrow the search down. If the leaves are being eaten/chewed but not totally gone it is likely a caterpillar type pest. You can often tell if the insect is nearby by looking closely at the margin of the chewed area. If the margin is dead or brown then the damage is older and the culprit may no longer be around. If on the other hand the margin is still green you should look closely to find the critter responsible as he is likely nearby.

In the case of this question I suspect a cabbage looper but doing a little research I found a "new pest" called the bougainvillea looper that has shown up out west. I suspect the new pest is not in our area but you never know. The lady in question could not find the critter so there is no way to be certain.