I'd like to hear some theories on this as my friend and I are both having the same issues. Only bugs I've been seeing are grasshoppers, and they usually eat my tomato foliage. I've got tons of lizards this year, but that doesn't seem like something a lizard would do. It's so weird because the surface is like it's been cauterized, no rot at all, just a dry, apparently healed surface. Unfortunately I've been getting it mostly on the fruits I've got marked to collect seeds from, so I've started leaving my bags on after the fruit sets until it's ripe. Very frustrating.
Pam

The only living creatures I've seen in my raised bed are various flying insects, small flies, bees and so on. I also have some spider webs on a couple of plants, and there has been som caterpillars on my porch, but as far as I know, not in the raised bed. No grasshoppers.

Other than that, I live in an area where there are no lizards, no badgers, no sizeable animals of any kind that could get to my peppers. Worst I've since on my porch - once - is a slug. But only one, and after heavy rain.

To make things even more mysterious, my raised bed is mostly enclosed by my portable greenhouse almost all the time now, as the weather is getting real autumny-y.

Have you had a lot of rain? Slugs maybe?

not really, we had what we consider a lot of rain for August, but that's cos we rarely get rain in August. But it was only for a couple of weeks, and I'd think rain would cause rot... haven't seen any slugs. Mine are in raised beds too... and my friend's are in raised beds also... that's interesting.
Pam

Not a lot of rain here, but these peppers are protected under a hoophouse anyway.

I'd say damage from an insect - some time ago. The wound has healed and likely grown larger as the pepper has grown. I've had similar damage. The main result seems to be that it allows rainwater inside the pod, leading to fungus infestation.

And no, lizards don't eat vegetables. They eat the things that eat vegetables. That you see a bunch of lizards means that you have a bunch of bugs.

Dennis

hahaha, I don't need no lizards to tell me I have a bunch of bugs! ;-) if I go out and touch my Hibiscus plants a cloud of white forms. At least the lady bugs have gotten most of my aphids. But the grasshoppers are bad too.
Pam

I had wormholes in about a dozen peppers this year. Not bad, because I have quite a lot. It destroys the pepper and by ripening time the afflicted pepper will drop. When the fruit casing is breached in mid-growth, it's over. I think it is caused by a small white worm that turns into one of those little moths.

Earwigs.

I have a problem with them yearly.

I think, that perfectly round hole is not the result of some creature trying to eat the pepper, but rather. it is drilled specifically to get in, maybe to lay eggs. I have seen bumble bees do this in wood.

Earwigs make raggedy small holes

4-legged creatures would do more extensive damage.

Slugs are messy eaters. Never make tidy round holes.

Most likely a caterpillar.

Some insects dine at night. You won't always find the culprit during the day.

This post was edited by jean001a on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 20:08

Army worms? I find them in my peppers sometimes, they make holes like that. A minor nuisance so far.