I planted some fairly uncommon plants this year and within 24 hours a bunch of bugs that apparently only eat that specific plant had found it and chewed it up. How are they able to find the plants they feed on so easily?
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Most of these plant eating bugs have bad eyes and can’t see much, but they make up for it with an incredible sense of smell.
Those long antennae are their nose, and they can wiggle them around in the breeze to get an idea of what smells are coming from what directions. Their sense of smell is many times more sensitive than yours, and has this significant degree of “directionality” that your nose doesn’t have.
They can home in on your plants from a block away, guided entirely by smell.
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