Please Help ID this Larva/Caterpillar Inside Rosebud

13 years ago

I am in Illinois, close to St. Louis, MO, in Zone 6b. I am having no luck Google-researching the larva or caterpillar that is eating my rosebuds (a Bella Roma, if that is important). Here are some photos (I figured out how to reduce the filesize a bit for shorter loading times, but will add the link to the entire photobucket album):

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I had been scrutinizing a distorted, leaned-over bud and found it "weeping a black tear" this morning.

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Found the culprit this evening!

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Clipped off this bit & bagged it

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A close-up

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Another close-up

Has anyone any idea of what this might be?

I'd love to identify it so that I can find a way to deter/eliminate it. (I'll be cutting off any more buds I discover to be infested, meanwhile.)

I would prefer not to eradicate it with insecticide as my rose is surrounded by mint that brings bees and wasps to my garden. (Someone else planted the mint - we don't eat things grown next to the foundation - I just let it bloom and enjoy the bee show...) I do hope this is not something I have invited by planting a rose in the middle of the mint patch!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Roma Album

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Comments (8)

hosenemesis
13 years ago
Great photos!
You can post them at "What's That Bug" and see if you get a positive ID from the genius bug people there. I'll get DH on an id as well.
Renee
eepi
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, thank you, Renee! I ... had not discovered "What's That Bug" - I will find it and do so!
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eepi
Original Author
13 years ago
I did email the "What's That Bug" people, and also attempted to register for the site, but have not received a password via email, nor a reply to the query I submitted via the Ask form (though I did check the box marked "Send me a copy of my email") so I am still completely in the dark.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ask What's That Bug
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
13 years ago
Well, I hope someone can help you identify that larvae eepi.
I looked on different sites, but, couldn't find anything that looked like that.
Looks like some type of caterpillar.
york_rose
13 years ago
I'm certain it's a caterpillar, but that only means it's going to be a butterfly or moth. Unfortunately from those pictures I can't say anything more. I'd need a picture with more (in focus) details of its body to do that. I suspect it's either an "inchworm" (i.e., a moth in the family Geometridae) or a moth from the family "Noctuidae" (which has a number of species which move in a similar manner to the inchworms), but I can't say anything more than that.

Obviously you have a pest that is eating your rosebuds. If I'm not mistaken a spray containing "Bt" (short for "Bacillus thuringiensis") will probably put an end to the problem.
hosenemesis
13 years ago
Eepi- the what's that bug people are probably on vacation. Sometimes they take a while to get to emails.

Have you found any more damage?
Renee
eepi
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the replies, everyone, and apologies for my delay in follow-up. Life got a bit insane.

I've looked at zillions of photos of Geometridae and Noctuidae and so far haven't come up with a match. Whatever it was, I now kind of wish I'd preserved it so that it could metamorphosize... ah well.

@Renee & York Rose: Perhaps the bug people are vacationing, but it does seem odd - I'll just keep waiting patiently. I did find a couple more affected-looking buds and pruned them away but did not find another caterpillar to photograph. If I do, I'll take 300 photos if necessary to get a few good in-focus photos from all angles. (That'll also help me learn how to work the camera settings heh..) At this point, it appears that pruning out the infested-with-whatever-it was sections has solved the problem, and I have tons of new growth that so far looks healthy as a result, so I will hold off on the Bt and keep a close eye on everything.

Other than the obvious damage from Japanese Beetles, which I continue to drown in soapy water, the only damage now seems to be the older damage from the rose slugs. I currently have 4 blooms which, while smaller than usual, all look normal.

So, I'm so glad I didn't freak out & remove the whole rosebush! Thank you all so much! The next thing I need to do is some pruning. I think I mentioned in the other thread that I had been holding off due to a praying mantis egg case.

Either this mantis egg case opened already where I can't see the opening, or maybe it's just not going to - seems like it should have by now. I have found baby mantises in 2 other areas of the yard, but none around this bush, so I know hatchings have occurred... I guess I'll just keep that little section of cane somewhere after pruning, as I'm pretty sure the mantis who laid this did so rather late in the fall.

Anyway, once I get him all shaped nicely I'll take new pics!
Bella Roma - saved from destruction!
anntn6b
13 years ago
eepi
Praying Mantis egg cases - look at it with the stem in back of it.
There's a sort of center line down the middle, as if someone had made a smear down it with their little fingertip while it was still soft.
When the baby mantises emerge, they will come from many, many horizontal slits in that smear, and the slits will remain and the slits ARE visible.

If they aren't out yet, and you need to prune that, do prune it and then tape it to another stem, preferable on some shrub with fairly dense stems and foliage.

Please Help ID this Larva/Caterpillar Inside Rosebud

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hosenemesis

eepi
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jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6

york_rose

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Please Help ID this Larva/Caterpillar Inside Rosebud

Comments (8)

hosenemesis

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eepiOriginal Author

jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6

york_rose

hosenemesis

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anntn6b

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eepi
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eepi
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eepi
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