Google sawfly larvae and see if that is what you are seeing.

Spinosad is super effective on caterpillars and other sucking insects.

Root 98 Warehouse Southern Ag Conserve Naturalyte Insecticide Organic (Insect control garden, lawn, ornamental, fruit tree), 8 OZ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052O18P0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_2cLABbCA58874

Spinosad should work fine... Follow directions to be most effective...There is no kill forever way! Rose Slugs are sawfly larvea...Sawfly can fly in from all over and lay eggs on your roses...

Squish squish squish!

whenever I see a problem , I spray Bonide's Captain Jack's Dead bug brew , has spinosad which is a natural sort of insecticide . kills all rose bugs for me .

I squish as well but only until the predators arrive. They stay the rest of the year to help with other insects. In the long run the insecticides cause more problems than they cure.

Do you spray directly on the offending creature? Or just cover the plant top to bottom and the undersides? How long does the effect last?

I've picked off a few this morning. Being perfectly candid, that's not something I can incorporate into my routine, as satisfying as it feels to quash them. Will run to get some sprays. I don't care much about the leaves they eat, but they like to burrow into the young buds!

I spray the whole bush once every 10 days to 2 weeks during peak bug season .

You might try spraying with a product containing Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) -- a type of bacteria that when ingested by a caterpillar quickly proliferates in the caterpillar's gut to the point the caterpillar is no longer able to eat and dies of starvation. It is harmless to honeybees and predatory insects.

I’ve tried to spray’s, but picking them off my hands every night has been the most effective. I know that may not be what you want to hear, but I think it has to be a process! Good luck!

Paul unfortunately I don’t think the Bacillus works on rose slugs as they’re not caterpillars. It’s strange but they only affect certain roses, most are free from them but they love the Nahema. That’s a pain as it is climbing and the slugs are found on the backs of the leaves. So youd have to use a lethal or maybe a systemic spray would work, but which I don’t want to do. On the other couple of roses that have rose slugs I take great satisfaction in squishing them.

Bought a Bayer spray and a Spinosad spray and unleashed both. Will let you know if it works. I just get so angry when I see a beautiful young bud growth chewed up by these worms, I'm ready to reach for..something strong!

If those are contact sprays (?) you'd have to spray the backs of the leaves. I wonder if there's something you could spray directly on the buds, as protection, how does Neem oil affect buds? Not sure if it kills rose slugs but a lot of pests can't get a grip if you spray with horticultural oil.

You mean I CAN"T spray directly on buds? I just showered then with extra double love from Bayer and Spinosad.

Most of the damage I see is on tender young bud growth on the very top of the plant where they aren't really any leaves yet. Just the barely-there bud. That's also where I mostly saw them. I sprayed the hell out of these tips.

Any chance of just one measly picture so that we can be sure we're all on the same page? I don't think that you've verified that you agree with the rose slug (sawfly) diagnosis, have you?

Being exact in the identification can be very important.

I’m sure you can spray Bayer on buds .... I just meant, to do the buds with some sort of protective covering like an oil, but then I don’t know how an oil would affect the bud.

Do the rose slugs eat the actual buds? Mine only eat on the leaves. Maybe we're talking about two different Critters here. Just a thought.

Will post a photo tomorrow !

If you have rose slugs Nadya Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) will NOT work...

Yes I have watched rose slugs nibble buds and they nibble blooms when opened...But so do alot of other bugs...lol

Pic of rose slugs eating our buds and blooms:

Yes! That's exactly what they look like, especially the first photo where it's green. That's why they are so hard to see and pick off. No critters seen this morning after yesterday's chemical attack.

Went to HD today and saw the same thing snacking on a Sugar Moon. That’s what it looks like. It’s a slug, right?

Interesting reading up on this. "Sawfly" and rose "slug" are both highly inaccurate common names, it turns out. They are not slugs as they are not mollusks, nor are they any type of fly. Rather they are the larvae of a subOrder (Symphyta) of wasps.

Thats a curled rose slug...But they are NOT a true slug...

You most definitely can mist spinosad on rose buds, spraying directly on the newly opened buds and young growth is the only way to clobber those critters. They aren’t interested in tough old leaves and woody canes.

That’s interesting .. I already have some spinosad but didn’t realise, it is marketed here as a fruit fly control, see the blurb below.

Nature’s Way Fruit Fly Control has been included in this range because it’s based on spinosad, the naturally-derived insecticide found in Yates Success.

Yates Nature’s Way Fruit Fly Control works by tricking the insect into absorbing the spinosad that’s been combined with an irresistible bait. After she emerges from her pupal case in the soil, the female fly looks to feed on a source of protein before she lays her eggs. When she eats the protein and sugar bait in Nature’s Way Fruit Fly Control, she also ingests a dose of the insecticide, which means she never makes it to the egg-laying stage.

Fruit fly baits are nothing new but many have used a hormone that only attracts male flies (they’re the ones that don’t lay the eggs!) or have been based on a nasty chemical. Now Yates Nature’s Way Fruit Fly Control has a low toxic formulation that really works.

also found this

because spinosad is highly effective against diamondback moth, but because it also controls several other important lepidopteran pests such as heliothis (Helicoverpa spp.), cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae), cabbage centre grub (Hellula hydralis) and cabbage cluster caterpillar (Crocidolomia pavonana) at rates which provide growers with excellent value for money. Spinosad is highly active against loopers (Chrysodeixis spp.) and affords some control of cluster caterpillar (Spodoptera litura) and onion thrips (Thrips tabaci).

So so if my rose slugs ever start on my buds I’ll use this. Might even do it on the climbing nahema as I can only squish so high! And they do shred the leaves to pieces ...

I actually just let rose slugs alone these days... Wasps, birds here will get them sooner or later...

Oh awesome pics Jim!

I also used Captain Jacks on Geraniums (Pelargoniums) and Petunias for budworms. Bt had no effect on the caterpillars that I could see.

Update to say I haven't seen any since the chemical attack so whatever was in it worked well! Sprayed Bayer Advanced followed by Spinosad. Loving it.

I mean I wish I could be a better person, a sort of person with flashlights and mirrors and time to inspect at dusk. But a full-time job + three young kids = blunt weapons or better gardens through chemistry. When I retire, though, I'm definitely buying all of that.