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Advised needed regarding caterpillars

alexwildliferescuealexwildliferescue Posts: 79
in Problem solving
My lovely shrub rose leaves have very small see-through caterpillars living and eating on them. Seems to be enclosing the leave around them, also eating through new buds. I’ve managed to get the ones I could see off. Don’t want to use pesticides, can anyone advise a natural solution on how to control them. 

Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Probably sawfly larvae rather than caterpillars. Manual removal is the best and the birds will hoover them up if they find them.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    They could be sawfly caterpillars … if there really are a lot I would pick them off and put on the bird table. If just a few I leave them … the birds may find them, if not well, they’re part of the ecosystem too 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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