hi jean the bugs are black vine weevils. they do come out at nite and are very small. "they" say that the bugs will not kill the lilacs ( they are eating my peonies too) but the grubs that are in the ground around the roots can kill them. the treatment i've seen is beneficial nematodes. i sprayed the ground last fall with them to kill the grubs but it either didn't work or the infestation this year would have been worse!! this year they are so bad that i do think the plants could die because of the leaf demise. i'm going to try the nematodes again because i haven't heard of anything else to do. if you hear of another treatment please let us know. sandy

Hi sandy. Thanks for the info. I have tried liquid seven and that didn't work. what is nematodes? Maybe i'll try that this fall. this has been going on for several years and i'm really getting tired of it. i thought i might go to the extension office and see if they know of anything. I have noticed it coming on my peonies, too. hey, i live in durango, co....where are you? Jeandrew.

hi jean i think nematodes are little creatures that get into the grubs and kill them. i got them from gardens alive. they don't really explain exactly what the are. i know there are bad nematodes too that bother root crops. i live in rifle co and love durango. heard you have alot of bark beetle damage to your trees. do you have an email address - didn't find a way to email you on your page. sandy

My mom is having this same problem with her lilacs, when we inspected, we found grasshoppers and lots of earwigs. Could this be the problem? Does anyone have any more ideas about the weevils? Are we sure that whatever is eating the leaves won't kill the plant?