The "suck bug"

I've never seen one, but something gets into the iris stalks about 2 to 6 inches below the bud, and sucks all the life out of the stalk from an area one to two inches long, so that the sucked section of the stalk is approx. 1/2 inch wide (the normal diameter of a round stalk) but only about 3/16" thick, and looks like it's miniature-corrugated, so the bud can't open since nutrients and fluids have been cut off. I've looked at Iris pests & diseases on several sites, including the AIS site, but none of them described this nasty problem, I moved the two tubs that were afflicted away from all other irises. I don't have aphids because spearmint plant containers are interspersed among the tubs. I had a real mess of aphids and ants on my brussels sprouts last year, but after I put several pots of mint there, the insects were gone in 3 days. Earwigs don't do this kind of damage. What could get into the stem and leave no other trace of itself?

I'm in Zone 9b; we had unusually late frosts this year, and also plenty of late rains between the sunny days, so the leaf spot has had its way with some clumps, but those have been treated & all kept cleaned up.

I would send a pic, but my camera is temporarily kaput.

Have any of you had or heard of the "suck bug" ? (I don't know what else to call it.)

Are you talking about iris borers?

Could have been some type of worm/caterpillar. I had them really bad this spring and they ate small holes just wherever on the stalk and then the whole stalk died and I had to cut it off. None of those could bloom even though they had buds on them.
Of course the stinkers blend in so well you can't see them and besides that they fall off at the slightest brush on the plant so they were hard to find.

No borers in CA

I should clarify, what I had was not borers. It was a caterpillar of some kind. A borer does look like a worm/caterpillar also, but the ones I had were a greenish color and fat looking. other than caterpillars I can't think of anything that would eat a hole like that.

Do you get pillbugs AKA roly polys in Ca? They eat iris leaves, I know.

And are you aware of pineappling? Could it be that? It's thought to be just weather related.