This ‘caterpillar’ had successfully defoliated two branches of my Super Star rose the other day. At first I thought it was a moth caterpillar but upon closer examination I decided it was a sawfly larva. But I cannot tell which one. The popular Rose-eating sawflies (Arge pagana, Arge rosae, and Arge ochropus) have larvae with black spots while one which has this colouring (Endelomyia aethiops) only grazes on the surface of the leaves and is slightly pear-shaped being thinner in the tail (known appropriately as the Rose Slug). So, all I can conclude is that this chap was a) a sawfly larva (probably) and b) unwelcome!
This is definitely a moth caterpillar! It will grow up to be a Bright-line Brown-eye Moth. I think it was feeding on the Viburnum which I was pruning when I found it swimming in the fish pond with some of the fallen leaves. It departed unharmed back into the shrubbery after I had photographed it.
Did you ever figure out which Sawfly species this belonged to? I have been following a different looking sawfly grub to try and see which of the Sawflies it actually turns into, but so far nothing has come out of the cocoon
ReplyDeleteNo, David, I regret that I didn't. Hope you have better luck with yours.
ReplyDelete