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I would expect Japanese beetles to damage the blooms. Let's hope that's not it.

If these "bites" are large circular sections it could be leafcutter bees.

You may have rose slugs (sawfly larvae)? They can be very tiny & blend in with leaf colors, so, they can be hard to spot sometimes. They will be located on the underside of leaves.

We have 2 types of rose slugs here. 1 type is here from May to late June, then they are gone.
The other type we have are here from May until September.
They keep reproducing and coming back, over & over again.
These eat leaves while curled up in a tight ball. Very hard to spot as they blend right in.

I forgot I had this pic from the other day. Here's a larger rose slug on the underside of our rose leaf.
This leaf had minor damage, some other leaves are totally shredded.

{{gwi:321424}}

I've got the same thing going on a few of my roses. Something working their way up the canes from the bottom, eating the leaflets, leaving the petiole. I have searched the bush from top to bottom, and I can't find the little culprit. Rose slugs make holes, eventually eating most of the leaf, and they are usually out during the day, so I can find them and squish them. Japanese Beetles eat flowers and leaves, but they tend to skeletonize the leaves instead of eating them outright. My gut says that this is a type of caterpillar, since the leaves appear to be eaten from the margins toward the center, but it must be nocturnal. I haven't been out at night with my flashlight to see, however.

Connie

Many, many thanks everyone!
Thanks for the photo tip, Jim! I'm including the link here:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac96/seanrooney/bugs/DSC_3882.jpg

Sean

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:321422}}

Many, many thanks everyone!
Thanks for the photo tip, Jim! I'm including the link here:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac96/seanrooney/bugs/DSC_3882.jpg

Sean

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:321422}}

Petaloid, that's my feeling too but I'm not sure because, like another person in the GardenWeb group, Hartwood, I haven't seen the beetles. I figure the picture will either confirm or eliminate the possiblity that the "free lunchers" are japanese beetles.

{{gwi:321422}}

That certainly looks like leaf-cutters to me. It's something we don't see very often in my neck of the woods.

You have leaf cutter bees somewhere nearby. There's more than one species. The adult females use portions of (rose in this case) leaves to create cells in which to place balls of nectar-laced pollen. An egg is laid on each ball, and then the cell is sealed shut with a new bit of leaf, which then serves as the base of the next cell. They usually use old hollow stems to do this if I remember correctly (but I'm fuzzy on that).

It's temporary, and the bees are useful pollinators if you live anywhere near an agricultural area.

Thank-you flaurabunda. Petaloid also suspects it may be leaf-cutters. I'd never heard of them before now and I don't know if they make it all the way up to Canada. We HAVE had the warmest, driest summer on record so perhaps this insect is in the neighborhood. I'm glad the two of suggested the leaf-cutters because it's a good path to explore. Sure wish I could spot one on the bushes though!

I believe you're right on the money, York Rose. I found some pics on the Internet of leaves cut by your bugs and my leaves look exactly the same. I can live with the bees. :- )
Many thanks, York Rose!

I'll put a link to an article I found about how and why leafcutter bees were brought from the US into Canada, where you live.

There's not much to be done about them taking sections of our rose leaves for their nests, but where I live they are seasonal.

Here is a link that might be useful: leafcutter bees in Canada

Yeah, that looks like leaf cutters. Glad to see you posting pics Sean57!

Definitely different than the destruction on my rose ... which I should photograph, and haven't. Looks like you have your answer. Congratulations.

Connie

I've had leafcutter bees now since April. All of my roses look just like swiss cheese. I somehow had the thought that this was only a temporary situation, but it doesn't look like it. I won't do anything to harm them as they are pollinators, but I've gotta tell you they are decimating my rose garden!

Darlene

I have the same problem and never see the culprits, but on a previous post someone suggested the leafcutter bees and the damage looked exactly as that pictured. They must be very discreet since I've never actually seen one lunching on the leaves. I will also live with the problem.

Ingrid

I somehow had the thought that this was only a temporary situation

I've only ever lived in the Northeast, but when I've encountered them they always have been a temporary situation.

Of course, the species one encounters in the Northeast are adapted to a climate with a serious winter. You may be encountering a species that doesn't have that adaptation since you don't live in a climate with a regular killing frost.

As to their discretion, they're always rather small bees (maybe one sixth the size of a honeybee, maybe a little smaller than that). They may move in and out before you realize they're even there.