Gooseberries - pests, diseases and ways to combat them. Caterpillars on gooseberries How to treat gooseberry bushes against caterpillars

The main danger of all cultivated plants is considered to be all kinds of pests that develop on shoots and foliage. Their presence always leads to the withering of the green mass and quite often provokes their death. However, not every gardener can prevent the problem in time and confidently fight it back. The article will discuss in detail what is the main cause of damage to gooseberry foliage, and also describes the main methods of pest control.

Types of pests

A lot of insects can develop on gooseberries; its branched stems become the best habitat for the habitat and production of offspring of many species. However, such a neighborhood should not always cause alarm, since the bush often becomes an object of protection for small creatures. That is why below we consider species that are extremely dangerous for crops, capable of instantly eating foliage and infecting its shoots.

Did you know?Gooseberries are considered a traditional type of vegetation in Europe and Africa, but their first description was given only in 1536 by the French scientist and physician Jean Ruel.

Gooseberry moth

The adult specimen of this pest is a small grayish-white butterfly with a wingspan of up to 3 mm. The wings are often covered with brown stripes and scales, which is their characteristic feature.

In the spring, this pest lays eggs inside the flowers, due to which the young larva almost completely eats the berries from the inside. As it develops, the small larva grows into a green caterpillar with a black head.

During its life, it infects the pulp of the berries, which then prematurely turn red and rot. In this case, the fruits are covered with a characteristic cobweb coating, thanks to which the appearance of the pest can be best recognized.

About a month after the birth of the caterpillar, the moths descend to the root layer of the soil, take the form of a pupa and overwinter in the upper layers of the soil. This insect is characteristic of many fruit crops, distinguished by juicy berries, including currants.

Video: Protecting gooseberries from gooseberry moth caterpillars

Yellow sawfly

A typical sawfly is a red-black or yellow-black insect, up to 7 mm long. This creature appears en masse around the second half of May, after young foliage appears on gooseberries and other fruit shrubs. At this time, mass reproduction of the sawfly occurs, after which the insect lays eggs along the leaf veins.

A few weeks after laying, small bluish-green caterpillars with a dark head appear from the eggs. On top of the main color, insects have black dots located over the entire surface of the body.

The lifespan of the caterpillars is about a month, after which they burrow into the root layer of the soil. At a depth of 5–7 cm, insects form pupae, after which their development continues into the next season.

Moth

The most common pest of gooseberry bushes and currants can be called the moth. This is a fairly large butterfly, with a wingspan of 40–50 mm. The wings of the insect are covered with a bright pattern of various black dots, as well as yellow and brown stripes. At the same time, the head of the butterfly has a dark tint, and the abdomen is distinguished by an ornament of yellow-black spots.

Plant growers first encounter moths in early spring. The pest larvae emerge from the root layer of the soil and massively colonize the surface of the gooseberry. These are large caterpillars up to 40 mm long. Their back has a gray-white tint, and their belly is yellow, with all kinds of black transverse stripes. When a favorable period occurs, the larvae pupate on green mass or shoots, after which butterflies appear after about a month.

Around the end of July, butterflies visit the gooseberries again and lay eggs on the back surface of the leaves, from which larvae emerge again. They overwinter in pupae, in the root layer of the soil of the bush, and at least 1 month passes after hatching from the egg until the first pupation. Thanks to this development cycle, the bushes are affected by the pest at the beginning and end of the growing season, which almost always provokes severe consequences for the crop.

Shoot aphid

Important!Aphids are prone to instant reproduction; one female can produce several generations of offspring per season. That is why pest control should be started immediately.

As aphids reproduce, they form eggs; before wintering, they appear as small, dense, black formations. Pests deposit them in the area of ​​young buds. In the spring, young individuals emerge from the eggs and feed on bud juice. This often leads to the death of plants at the beginning of the growing season, especially if the plant has reduced immunity.

Leafworms belong to a small group of butterflies from the order Lepidoptera . These creatures are of medium size; the wingspan of the average representative is 20–30 mm. The main color of an adult insect is of various shades of gray, over which an ornament of alternating spots and stripes of various shapes and sizes appears.

Over the course of 2 months, she lays eggs on the reverse side of the leaf, which allows the formation of up to 2 generations of young individuals. After the onset of cold weather, the caterpillars concentrate near the buds and form a cocoon, in which they overwinter until next year.

Consequences of the appearance

The main purpose of the reproduction of insect pests on the surface of the bush is to provide themselves and their offspring with the food supply necessary for growth and development, therefore, often with mass development they lead to the complete or partial destruction of the green mass of plants.

It is the center of the photosynthetic apparatus, since the leaves contain specific cells that ensure the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy.

As a result, the plant is unable to fully maintain its vital functions and metabolism.

In addition, the foliage creates a special microclimate for the shoots, protecting them from intense sunlight.

In case of complete loss of leaves, this can lead to the death of a valuable fruit crop from lack of nutrition or drying out of the shoots.

What caterpillars eat gooseberry leaves

The following insects are considered to be the most dangerous for gooseberry leaves and other fruit bushes:

In addition, bushes can be affected by less dangerous pests that are not capable of causing mass death of leaves, but have a negative impact on fruiting and development of gooseberries. These include spider mites, gall midges, leaf beetles, glass beetles and gold beetles.

Control methods, rules of application

Chemicals

"Inta-Vir"

This product refers to contact chemicals that affect the intestinal and nervous systems of insects. Due to this, within a few hours after application, the caterpillars lose the ability to eat food and die a day after treatment.

The working solution is prepared from 1 tablet of the product and 10 liters of water. The resulting liquid is used to treat the shoots and leaves of the bush at a rate of 2 l/bush. Plants need to be sprayed twice. The first time this is done before flowering begins, the second treatment is carried out within a week after harvesting.

"Decis"

The drug "Decis" enters the body of pests through the intestinal route. A few hours after the defeat, it provokes a blockade of the nervous system, which leads to disruption of the activity of the entire organism as a whole. The end result is the gradual death of insects.

The effectiveness of the drug against all kinds of pests is extremely high and is approximately 8 points out of 10 possible. Prepare a solution for spraying from 1 g of concentrate and 10 liters of water. Depending on the size of the bush, the consumption of working fluid is 10 l/2–5 plants. The plantings should be treated twice, with an interval of 14–20 days, but no later than 30 days before harvesting the berries.

Important!In some cases, “Decis” can cause burns to young shoots, so spray it on 1–2-year-old seedlings with special care.

"Kinmiks"

To prepare the mixture for spraying, dissolve one ampoule of concentrate in a liter of water. The resulting liquid should be brought to 10 liters, and then used to treat leaves and shoots with a flow rate of 1–1.5 liters per bush. Plants can be treated throughout the growing season, but no more than 2 times, with an interval of 14 days. In this case, at least 3 weeks must pass from the last spraying to harvesting the berries.

"Iskra-M"

Prepare a treatment agent at the rate of 1 ml of concentrate/1 liter of water. The entire surface of the bush is thoroughly sprayed with the resulting mixture at a consumption of 1–1.5 l/bush. Such treatments are carried out throughout the entire growing season, twice, with an interval of 20 days, but no less than 20–30 days before harvesting the berries.

"Fitoverm"

Prepare the product at the rate of 1 ml/1 liter of water; the resulting liquid is sprayed onto the bushes at a rate of 100 ml/1 m² of plantings. Such procedures are performed at least 2 times, until the insects and their larvae are completely destroyed, with a break of 14–20 days.

"Fufanon"

To prepare a mixture for spraying plants, you need to dissolve 10 ml of concentrate in 500 ml of water, and then bring the resulting liquid to 10 liters. The working solution is used at the rate of 1–1.5 l/bush, the frequency of treatments should be no more than 2 procedures. The last of them is carried out no later than 20–30 days before picking the berries.

Folk remedies

In addition to highly active chemicals, pests can also be controlled using folk remedies. They are less dangerous for plants and future harvests, and are also not able to accumulate in berries. In addition, their use contributes to the transformation of simple gardening into organic farming.

Did you know?Humanity has been using insecticides for many centuries. Even in Ancient Greece, fumigation with sulfur was used as the best panacea not only for pests, but also for all kinds of infections of fruit species.

Ash

This product is prepared from 10 liters of clean water and 300 g of sifted wood ash. The mixture should be left for about 2 days, then strained thoroughly. Before use, add 40–50 g of liquid soap to the liquid and shake everything well.

This infusion is used to spray bushes throughout the growing season, with an interval of 7–14 days. In this case, the treatment must be carried out at least 2-3 times, no later than 2 weeks before harvesting the fruits.

Tobacco dust

This product is prepared using half a glass of tobacco dust, grated laundry soap and 3 liters of water. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and left for about 3 days. The resulting liquid must be filtered and then sprayed on the plantings twice, with an interval of 14 days. Such procedures are carried out throughout the growing season.

Vinegar

Mustard

The pungent odor and burning properties of mustard are not tolerated by many insects, including gooseberry pests. Preparing such a product is quite simple: you need to dissolve 100 g of powder in 10 liters of water. Leave the mixture for about a day, after which 40 g of grated laundry soap are added to it before use. The resulting liquid is generously sprayed onto the bushes in several passes, with an interval of 7–14 days. If the gooseberry has suffered massive damage, the concentration of the substance is increased to 200 g/10 l of water.

Ammonia

Ammonia also has excellent insecticidal properties. To prepare the solution, 50 ml of liquid must be dissolved in 10 liters of water, and then add about 50 g of grated laundry soap to the mixture.

The bushes are sprayed generously with the product throughout the season; such procedures are performed in complexes, 2 times, with a break between each of at least 14 days. The last procedure should be carried out no later than 20 days before harvesting.

After treatment with all kinds of plant protection products, it is not recommended to water the plants for 2–3 days, otherwise the procedure will not give the necessary results.

Prevention, seasonal features

As practice shows, timely prevention is always the best measure to control pests on the site. It allows you to avoid mass infections, as well as prevent a decrease in the yield of fruit species.

• To do this you need to follow just a few simple rules:
• It is necessary to carry out preventive spraying of bushes in early spring, before flowering and in late autumn;
• at the beginning of the growing season, pour boiling water over the gooseberry tree trunk (avoiding contact with the plant itself);
• periodically weed the tree trunk;
• provide the bushes with the necessary microclimate and an intensive feeding system;
• at the end of the season, remove leaves and burn all plant debris.

If you notice caterpillars on your gooseberries, you need to act immediately. After all, this is a clear signal that pests have appeared on your plant, which will instantly destroy the leaves of the crop, and, consequently, the harvest. This phenomenon is also dangerous for nearby plants, especially black currants.

Let's find out why caterpillars appear on gooseberries, how to get rid of caterpillars on gooseberries, what preventive pest control measures exist and when is the best time to treat the crop.

Reasons for the appearance of caterpillars on gooseberries

If worms appear on a gooseberry, this can only mean one thing - that the plant is attacked by pests. There may be several of them. Therefore, the main thing is to find out what kind of insect has encroached on your berries and start fighting it. The main pests of gooseberries: currant glass, gooseberry moth, gooseberry moth, gooseberry sawflies, etc. Next we will talk about each of the pests.

Currant glass and how to deal with it

Currant glass is one of the most loyal fans of gooseberries. The caterpillars are yellow-white or pink in color. They reach two centimeters in length. They overwinter inside woody shoots. In the spring, the caterpillars go through the pupation stage and in late spring - early summer the dolls turn into butterflies. Such a butterfly begins to lay eggs again in damaged and peeled bark, as well as near the base of the buds. Worms hatching from eggs love to eat the bud and create tunnels for themselves inside the shoot. That's where they wait out the winter. Such a shoot will lag significantly behind in development, dry out and, over time, die. On an infected branch, the berries are small, as are the leaves.

How to deal with this pest? The fight against the butterfly is quite difficult, since its emergence in the spring is difficult to predict. Basically, experienced gardeners in the early stages of the disease use methods such as: pruning, burning dried branches, loosening the soil. If there are a lot of caterpillars, then you need to immediately spray the crop with insecticides.

Measures to combat gooseberry moth

This caterpillar is painted white and gray and has black spots, as well as characteristic yellow side stripes. The length of the worm is forty millimeters. The nature of movement is loop-shaped. The larva waits out the winter under fallen leaves in a cocoon made of cobwebs. With the onset of spring, this pest damages a large number of buds. After this, they prefer to eat young leaves. This leads to denudation of the bush, loss of yield and the inability of the plant to survive the winter. Caterpillars turn into dolls at the end of the flowering season. Butterflies can be seen in July. Such butterflies will lay eggs on the leaves below. After this, after fourteen days, new gluttons will appear and destroy the gooseberry leaves. And in the fall, again in the fallen leaves, they will form a cocoon for a comfortable and reliable wintering.

How to deal with a pest - you ask. First of all, in the fall and early spring you need to remove the leaves and burn them. Next, we recommend digging up the ground around the bush. If a lot of moths have been noticed, then treatment with a 0.2% solution of karbofos will not hurt. It is best to spray with the onset of spring, when the caterpillars awaken after winter. A second spraying would not hurt, but only in the summer, when a new generation of worms has formed. However, the treatment must be done a month before harvest.

Gooseberry moth and ways to get rid of it

The pupae wait out the winter in the top layer of soil under the bush. Butterflies can be seen in early May. Three days after emergence, the butterfly begins to place its eggs inside the flower or on young ovaries. After a week, light green caterpillars will appear from them. At first, the main delicacy for them will be the ovary, then the pests move to the berries. During its stage, one caterpillar destroys on average ten gooseberries. A characteristic feature of these worms is that they entangle the berries in a web. As a result, you will be left with a eaten bush.

You need to fight this pest in stages. First, collect all the prematurely colored fruits with caterpillars. In the fall, cultivate the soil between the rows and dig up the soil near the bushes.

Treatment of crops against gooseberry sawfly

There are two types of this pest: yellow and pale-legged. Caterpillars of the first type are small, approximately seventeen millimeters in length, have a green-gray color, and a characteristic feature is a black head. The larvae of the second species are even smaller - up to ten millimeters in length, have twenty legs, but their heads are light in color. Pests wait out the winter in the upper part of the soil under the bush. Pupation occurs in early spring. As soon as the leaves begin to bloom, a butterfly will fly out of the pupae, which will soon lay eggs on the lower part of the leaf. After two weeks, larvae will appear, the main food product for which will be leaves.

Ways to combat caterpillars on gooseberries

There are three main methods that can be combined with each other: manual collection, spraying with traditional medicine, and spraying gooseberries with chemicals.

Manual collection of leaves with caterpillars gives good results. This should be done throughout the week with a break.

Among traditional medicines, infusions of wormwood have proven themselves well. The collected grass is crushed and filled with water. After a day, the infusion can be used. The product is used in a one-to-one ratio with water. An infusion of tobacco is also known. Pour boiling water over five hundred grams of tobacco. After two days, the product can be used in a diluted state. Some gardeners use potato tops against caterpillars, which are prepared in the same way as wormwood. Infusions of garlic and onions are also known.

When folk remedies do not produce results, you should resort to the help of chemicals, such as: nicotine sulfate, fufanon, spark, anabasine sulfate, karbofos, vitriol. All these chemicals can be purchased at a specialty store.

Preventive measures

Prevention should be carried out in spring and autumn, as well as before and after flowers bloom. With the onset of spring, the bush and the ground located near it should be treated with solutions of ash, soap or copper sulfate. Most gardeners prefer to use a proven method - treating the soil near the gooseberries with boiling water (ninety degrees). Thanks to this procedure, pest larvae can be destroyed. Next, you should collect all the fallen leaves and burn them. When the buds begin to bloom, you should spray the plant with a solution of Bordeaux mixture. Treatment with karbofos and actellik in the early spring helps against caterpillars. In the autumn, all you need to do is trim branches, collect and burn fallen leaves, and loosen the soil.

Gooseberries are grown everywhere in different parts of our country. Sometimes a good harvest can be threatened by various pests. One of these are caterpillars. Gooseberries are mainly susceptible to two types of caterpillars: the gooseberry sawfly and the willow scale insect. To properly deal with these insects, you need to know some of their features.

Pale-footed gooseberry sawfly

This species of sawfly is a green caterpillar with a brown spot on the front of the insect. It usually appears in hot, dry weather and eats the pulp of the leaves, leaving only the veins. The pale-legged gooseberry sawfly develops in two or three generations per season, starting from the moment the leaves bloom and ending with harvest. This insect overwinters under the remains of grass and leaves.

Yellow gooseberry sawfly

The caterpillar of this insect is up to 2 cm long and grayish-green in color. As soon as the first leaves open, adult insects emerge and lay eggs on their undersides. These eggs hatch into caterpillars that eat the greenery of the plants. These insects are especially dangerous in June. At this time, they can completely destroy cultivated plants.

Willow scale

This caterpillar causes the greatest harm to gooseberries by sucking juice from the bark of plants. This causes their oppression and further death of branches. They first appear when the gooseberry blossoms. They can reproduce at high speed and cover the entire bark of plant branches. The scale insect is small in size and only one generation of pests appears per season.

How to deal with caterpillars on gooseberries

1. As with other pests, you need to start fighting caterpillars in the fall. To do this, all fallen leaves are collected and removed from the area, and the soil under the plants is loosened. This allows the pest eggs to die.

2. As soon as you notice the appearance of any caterpillars on the gooseberries, you need to shake them off onto special material that is spread under the bushes. This will significantly reduce their population.

3. To combat caterpillars during flowering, various chemicals are suitable, for example, nitrafen or lepidocide. They should be used only as directed using personal protective equipment.

4. With the onset of fruiting on gooseberries, the use of chemicals is not allowed. Therefore, at this moment, folk remedies are used to combat caterpillars. Gooseberry bushes are sprayed with infusions of tobacco or wormwood. They are prepared for 2-3 days with the addition of laundry soap before processing. It is most effective to spray gooseberries in late June - early July.

5. You can get rid of scale insects by running brushes along the gooseberry trunk, sweeping away insects from the plants.

6. You can also prepare a decoction from the green parts of tomato tops. Stepchildren, lower leaves and other waste are suitable for this. Green tomato tops are poured with water and boiled for 30 minutes over low heat. Then filter and dilute with water 1:3. For every 10 liters of broth you need to add 50 g of any soap. Treatment of plants is carried out in dry, windless weather in the morning.

7. No less effective is an infusion of chamomile in the fight against caterpillars on gooseberries. To prepare it, use 1 kg of dry raw materials, including chamomile leaves and inflorescences. It is poured with boiling water and left for 10-12 hours. Before spraying, it is diluted 3 times with water and soap is added.

All these methods help prevent the spread of various caterpillars on gooseberries and contribute to obtaining a good harvest of these berries.

Gooseberry shoot aphid Aphis grossulariae Kalt . - a small sucking insect of pale green color, 1.1-1.9 mm long. Before treating gooseberries against these pests, you need to know that the eggs overwinter on the shoots near the buds, in early spring, in April, the larvae hatch and feed on the sap of the buds, and later on the sap of the petioles of leaves and young shoots. Damaged petioles become bent, shoot growth stops, and lumps of twisted leaves form at the tops, inside of which there are colonies of aphids. In summer, female dispersers hatch, fly to neighboring plants and give rise to new colonies. Shoots damaged by aphids continue to grow, and a lump of curled leaves remains in the middle of the shoot. Gooseberry shoot aphids are often found on black and golden currants, less often on gooseberries.

Control measures. Spraying the bushes during bud break with one of the following preparations: Fufanon, Kemifos, Kinmiks, Actellik, Iskra, Inta-Vir, Fitoverm.

Look at these gooseberry pests and the fight against them in the photo, which shows all the typical signs and methods of eliminating insects:

Elm leaf beetle, or garden looper, or apple leaf beetle Liperus xanthopoda Schr. , is a black, shiny beetle, 4-6 mm long. It has yellow legs and yellow antennae with a dark tip; in the female, the length of the antennae is equal to the length of the body. The beetles gnaw large holes on the leaves without touching the veins. Before treating gooseberries in the spring against such pests, you need to understand that they develop in one generation and are found in spring and summer on all fruit trees, many deciduous trees and many berry bushes. When present in large numbers, it severely damages leaves and causes them to dry out prematurely.

Control measures. Preventive spraying of all trees and shrubs in the garden when buds open and immediately after fruit blossoms with the drug fufanon or its analogues (kemifos, karbofos).

Look at what these gooseberry pests look like in the photo, which shows their appearance and distinctive features:

Treatment of gooseberry bushes against sawfly pests

Treating gooseberry bushes against pests in the spring contributes to the complete destruction of different types of sawflies. You can find out how to treat gooseberries against pests in the spring on this page - further information is given about the types of sawfly and measures to combat them.

Pale-footed gooseberry sawfly Pristiphorapallipes Lep. - an insect 5-6 mm long, black, with whitish legs. The larvae are naked and green. Older larvae overwinter in a dense, shiny, dark-brown cocoon in the soil. They pupate there in early spring, and the first generation of insects emerge in April. Females lay eggs in the leaf tissue along the edges and near the veins on the underside. The fertility of one female is 40-50 eggs.

The egg stage lasts 6-8 days, after which the larvae hatch and gnaw small holes in the leaves. Growing up, the larvae eat leaves from the edges and often completely bare the bushes, leaving only leaf petioles. The larvae often feed on the underside of the leaf, and when disturbed, they quickly roll to the ground. The development of larvae lasts 20-25 days, after which they pupate in light-colored summer cocoons 5-7 mm long on leaves, stems, and in the soil.

After some time, adult insects emerge and give rise to new generations. Over the course of a year, depending on weather conditions, 2-3 generations of the pest develop. The larvae of the last generation go into the soil and pupate. When the pest population is high, currant and gooseberry bushes lose most of their leaves, and the shoots do not have time to become lignified, which reduces the frost resistance of plants.

Control measures. Treatment of gooseberries against pests begins with the collection and destruction of individual larvae. Preventive spraying of berry bushes before flowering with one of the preparations: fufanon, kemifos. kinmiks, actellik, spark, Inta-Vir. In case of large numbers, spraying with the same preparations is carried out in the summer, taking into account the waiting period.

Yellow gooseberry sawfly Nematus ribesii Scop . - an insect 6-8 mm long, yellow, with a black head and transparent wings. Larvae (false caterpillars) are up to 17 mm long, with 20 legs, grayish-green. The last older pseudo-caterpillars overwinter in cocoons in the soil at a depth of up to 5 cm, and pupate there in the spring; two weeks later, during the budding period, adult insects fly out.

Females lay eggs along the veins on the underside of the leaves. Larvae emerge from them, which first skeletonize the leaves, then eat holes, and at an older age they eat the entire leaves, leaving only veins and petioles. The development of the larvae lasts 15-28 days, after which they pupate in the soil, and after two weeks the second generation of the pest emerges. The new generation is the most numerous and voracious; the larvae develop and feed in the second half of June and can destroy all the leaves and even berries on the bushes. The second generation larvae, after finishing feeding, go into the soil for the winter.

Control measures. Spraying the bushes before flowering and immediately after flowering with one of the preparations: fufanon, kemifos, kinmiks, actellik, spark, Inta-Vir. If the number of false caterpillars is large, spraying is repeated in the summer, taking into account the waiting time for the preparations.

Caterpillars on gooseberries: how to fight and how to treat them

How to deal with caterpillars on gooseberries depends primarily on the type of pest. Most often, bud rollers, gooseberry moths, moths and other no less beautiful and voracious butterflies are identified on the bush. Measures to combat them necessarily include agrotechnical measures in the garden plot and the use of special chemicals. Before treating gooseberries for caterpillars, make sure that this procedure will not harm the environment. Start fighting in early spring and respond promptly when butterflies and caterpillars appear.

Leaf roller: how to spray gooseberries against pests in spring

Bud roller, or bud roller Spilonota ocellana F. (syn. Tmetocera ocellana F.) , - a butterfly with a wingspan of 14-18 mm. The front wings are gray with a wide white stripe in the middle and several dark strokes, the hind wings are brownish-gray. The eggs are transparent, shiny, the caterpillar is 9-12 mm long, brown, with a black head and a black chest shield. The pupa is brown, 6-8 mm long.

Before spraying gooseberries against pests in the spring, you need to know that third-instar caterpillars overwinter in white cocoons near the buds and in cracks in the bark. In early spring they emerge from the cocoon, bite into the buds and feed on the rudiments of leaves. After the buds open, the caterpillars feed on the buds and leaves, pulling them together into a dense lump with a web. Therefore, before spraying gooseberries against pests, you need to collect and burn all plant debris that has been preserved since the fall.

Having finished feeding, the caterpillars pupate and about 9-15 days after the end of flowering of the apple trees, butterflies fly out. The flight of butterflies is extended, and the mass flight is observed from the second ten days of June. Each female lays up to 180 eggs, placing them one at a time on the upper side of the leaves. The hatched caterpillars live between two leaf blades, held together by a web, or between a leaf and a fruit, to which they are attached by a web. The caterpillars are yellow-green, with a black head and chest shield. From a young age, they gnaw out leaf parenchyma and fruit skin, which leads to deformation and drying out of damaged leaves and fruits. The leaf roller damages all fruit and many berry crops, as well as forest species.

Control measures. If there is a large number of pests in the garden, annual spraying is carried out in early spring, during the swelling of the buds, with one of the drugs: Fufanon, Kemifos, Actellik. The treatment is repeated 2-3 weeks after the end of flowering.

Moth: spring treatment of gooseberries from pests

Bud roller Abraxas grossulariata L . - a large butterfly with a wingspan of 38-48 mm. The wings are yellow-white with numerous black spots and stripes. Caterpillars up to 40 mm long, grayish-white, with yellow stripes and a yellow abdomen, have two pairs of abdominal legs, which is why they bend double when moving. Older caterpillars overwinter in special cocoons under fallen leaves. During the period of currant and gooseberry buds, caterpillars emerge from cocoons, climb onto branches and gnaw on buds and young leaves. In June, the caterpillars pupate in cobwebby cocoons attached to the branches of bushes; From the second half of June until July, butterflies fly out. Females lay eggs in small clusters between the veins on the underside of the leaves. After 12-20 days, caterpillars hatch, feed on the leaves, gnawing large holes in them, in the fall they weave cocoons, attach them to the leaves and fall to the ground along with the leaves. The pest is widespread in gardens and, in addition to berry trees, damages apple, pear, plum, apricot, and bird cherry trees.

Control measures. Spring treatment of gooseberries against moth pests begins with collecting and burning fallen leaves with pest cocoons. Preventive spraying of berry bushes before flowering with one of the following preparations: fufanon, kemifos, kinmiks, actellik, spark, Inta-Vir. If there are a large number of caterpillars in the summer, repeated spraying is carried out after collecting berries with the same preparations.

Moth: fighting green pest caterpillars on gooseberries in spring

Gooseberry moth Zophodia convolutella Zell . - a nocturnal butterfly with a wingspan of 26-32 mm, flies at dusk and at night, and hides in the shade of bushes during the day. The front wings are gray with dark brown stripes, the hind wings are light brown, single-color with a silver-white fringe, the pattern of the wings is variable. Caterpillars on gooseberries are 10-11 mm long; younger ones are yellow-white with a black head; older ones are green.

The fight against gooseberry pests begins in the spring, since the pupae overwinter in the soil under the bushes at a depth of 1-3 cm. In the spring, before the gooseberries bloom, butterflies emerge and feed on nectar; their flight lasts 30-40 days. After fertilization, females lay eggs inside currant and gooseberry inflorescences, as well as on ovaries and leaves. Green caterpillars on gooseberries damage the berries, eating away the pulp and seeds. During mass reproduction, the caterpillars entangle the fruits with a web, fastening them into large clumps. Damaged berries rot and dry out, which is why the moth is often called the gooseberry codling moth. Older caterpillars go under the bushes into the soil, weave cocoons and pupate, turning into brown pupae.

Control measures with caterpillars on gooseberries consists of spraying the bushes before flowering and immediately after it with one of the drugs: fufanon, kemifos, actellik, kinmiks, spark, Inta-Vir. Collection and destruction of damaged berries, autumn digging of the soil under the bushes.

This article took a long time to write, and I haven’t returned to it even once. Gooseberry pests in the garden - what are they? The list could go on for a long time - there are probably a lot of them... But when I started writing this article, I didn’t know what kind of pest had visited my friend’s property. I was not ready for such a turn... Garden practice did not throw such problems at me. But the readers of our group on the social network Odnoklassniki helped me. I hope these tips will help everyone who encounters sawfly caterpillars on their plants in the garden.

All that was left of the leaves on the gooseberry were veins...

Who eats gooseberry leaves

So, one fine day I came to my friend and gasped! I visited her five days ago - I admired the gooseberry bushes: the berries are large, clean, and the bushes are beautiful, well-ordered. We agreed that in the fall she would give me several shoots. And yesterday I received a slight shock: all the gooseberry bushes stand without leaves, only some berries on the branches. The leaves on the gooseberry have been eaten, what should I do?

If you watch this video, you will understand my emotions about gooseberry bushes with eaten leaves:

A friend says it happened literally in one night or one day. I visited her on Monday evening, and on Wednesday morning she went to the gooseberry tree to pick berries for compote... and also received a slight shock from what she saw. Moreover, all the leaves of only the gooseberries were eaten.

She has three bushes: two grow nearby (they are in the picture above), and one in another corner of the plot. All three gooseberry bushes, regardless of their location, stand without leaves, but with berries. Black currants and grapes grow nearby - all the leaves are intact. We walked around the entire area with her - we did not find any traces of such an impudent, voracious pest on any plant. Only gooseberries without leaves. All that was left of the leaves were veins.

This can be seen especially clearly in the lower right part of the photo. The photo, of course, is not of very good quality, sorry, I took it on my phone and didn’t take a camera with me.

Purely theoretically, I can assume that these are caterpillars. Only they can cope with a large number of leaves in a short period. But where did the caterpillars go? And what are their names? Upon closer inspection, we did not find anyone on the gooseberry bushes or under them...

Maybe someone has encountered this?

Do you know a pest that loves gooseberry leaves?

I am finishing the article a month after the problem was discovered. I asked similar questions to colleagues from our groups on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte. The answer has been received.

Pest - yellow gooseberry sawfly - caterpillar

There are many varieties of sawfly, or more precisely, more than 5.5 thousand species. The yellow gooseberry sawfly harms not only gooseberries, but also red and white currants.

The sawfly is a flying insect. If you look closely, it’s even beautiful - the head is black, the legs are yellow. The sawfly overwinters in the pupal state. In early spring, it flies out of the pupae at the time when gooseberries and currants bloom. Adult flying insects are practically harmless to our garden, they even decorate it. Their main life task is to lay eggs on the underside of plant leaves. After this they die.

After 7-12 days, young sawflies—caterpillars—emerge from the testicles. So they harm the garden, gnawing into the buds, leaving holes in the leaves. Growing up, caterpillar sawflies can eat all the leaves on the plant - all that remains are hard veins. If there are a lot of pests, then due to their gluttony the bush can become completely bare in 1-2 days. This, by the way, happened to my friend’s gooseberries.

After such a sumptuous dinner, the sawfly caterpillars crawl into the soil and pupate there. After two weeks, adults emerge from the pupae and lay eggs. After another two weeks, the eggs hatch into caterpillars. And everything repeats itself.

Under the conditions of the long Kuban summer, at least three generations of caterpillar sawflies can develop.

Gooseberry or currant bushes, left without a single leaf, can dry out and die, as the process of photosynthesis is disrupted.

Measures to combat sawfly

Caterpillars on gooseberries have eaten leaves, how to fight? There are mechanical, biological and chemical measures to combat sawfly on gooseberries or currants.

The mechanical method of control is simple and quite effective if carried out on time. Spread a piece of cloth under the branches and shake the bush thoroughly several times. This is enough for all the tracks to fall down. Carefully roll up the fabric and burn it along with the caterpillars.

There are many biological methods. One of the most harmless, but effective, is this. Spray the gooseberry and currant bush with water, and then dust it with finely sifted wood ash. Having settled on the leaves, the ash will make them inedible - the pest will die.

How to spray gooseberries against caterpillars? Sawfly caterpillars will also not eat leaves sprayed with bitter infusions. Infusions of mustard, wormwood, tansy, yarrow, and celandine will make them this way. After each rain, spraying must be renewed.

There is another interesting way to fight the sawfly. But it is more suitable for controlling pests in the pupal stage; it would be better to use it in early spring. Regular sludge will help. As soon as the snow melts, dilute river or pond silt to a creamy mass and pour it into the center of the bush. The silt will spread under the bush, dry out and form a dense crust from under which insects will not escape from the pupae.

Among the biological preparations for protecting gooseberries or currants, experts recommend using lepodocid and bitoxybacillin against young sawfly caterpillars. When preparing solutions, follow the instructions in the instructions. I want to focus only on the following point: these solutions should be sprayed on plants in cloudy weather or after sunset, since ultraviolet rays have a destructive effect on the biological components of the preparations. By the way, don't expect the caterpillar sawyers to be gone that same day or the next. There will, of course, be fewer of them, but mass death of insects usually occurs within 2-3 days.

Chemicals should be used only if absolutely necessary, if other means have not helped. There are many such drugs. Those intended for leaf-eating insects - Iskra, INTA-VIR, Decis and many others - act against the caterpillar sawfly.