raspberry caterpillar?

[leona]

i just had a look at my rasbs and saw that some of the leaves have been eaten. i found a tiny green caterpillar munching away..i didnt know there were things that ate the leaves!

[leona]

i take it from the lack of reply that its not a normal thing!

[poultrychat]

Hi leana, sorry I can't help you much - something munched the leaves on mine last year but I never found the culprit, so far this year they are doing ok and my labrador is looking forward to the crop

[SueA]

Hi Leona, it could be anything, there are lots of different caterpillars which will munch just about anything.Gooseberry sawfly larvae are green & will eat gooseberries & currants so maybe they will eat raspberries if pushed? Also there are specific raspberry pests such as raspberry moth & raspberry beetles which have larvae stages but I think they are reddish(moth) & cream(beetle) caterpillars so it doesn't sound like them. Just squash/ remove any you see & hope for the best.

[Bugeyes]

Hello, my 'Colour Atlas of Fruit Pests' says that Raspberry sawfly has greyish green larvae 13-15mm long, head greenish or yellowish brown with eight pairs of prolegs. They feed on the underside of the leaves and if disturbed they roll up into a ball and drop to the ground. Damage is elongate holes between the veins of young foliage giving leaves a fern-like appearance. Plant growth is not affected and no control is needed! So if it is sawfly don't worry about it!

[leona]

it sounds mostly like that but when i picked it off, it just crawled around my hand and the leaves have been eaten in a way that looks like slug damage although it obviously isnt because i caught the caterpillar red handed...