Caterpillars and beetles on roses: 16 common pests to spot

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Rose pests have the property that they are often difficult to recognize, because only a few of the voracious pests are handsome. In addition, they only differ a little in appearance. Therefore, recognizing the damage pattern often leads to the goal more easily. Because not every pest immediately leads to total failure or has to be fought with full force.

Who is harmful?

Rose pests are mostly flying insects. It should be noted, however, that it is often the adult insects, be it beetles or butterflies, not the are actual pests, but their offspring, because these are used by the plants as nutrition in the Nursery. The danger, however, lurks from two sides. On the one hand, there is the offspring, which is sexually mature in the following year at the latest, and the adult insects that the plants have chosen as hosts for the offspring. It is therefore advisable to pay attention to both generations, to take preventive measures so that eggs do not even lay. With this form of defense, natural predators usually help best, as they ensure a natural balance in the garden.

Appearance of the rose pests

The spread of the various pests varies. Some appear nationwide, some only regionally. Overall, however, it can be stated that pests are spreading geographically, not least because of rising temperatures. According to the calendar, rose pests can be expected from spring. Since some of the rose pests develop two or more generations per year, the danger can drag on into autumn (September, October). You should therefore regularly check the roses for pest infestation until autumn, especially if it is not the first infestation.

Cutting tool and disposal

With many rose pests it is often sufficient to remove them mechanically or to cut off the infected parts of the plant. However, you should not dispose of them in the compost, because some offspring develop splendidly there. It is better if you dispose of the waste in the household waste. To avoid the risk of transmission as far as possible, you should always ensure that the cutting tool is clean. It is therefore advisable to clean it, even between cutting, even if it seems tedious at first glance.

Deformations, leaf damage, galls

This group includes pests that you can tell by the appearance of the roses. So

the rose petals are eaten or the buds are damaged. Galls are often referred to as tumors because they grow instead of buds or on leaves or Shoots sit. They serve as nurseries for some insects, i.e. the offspring are located in more or less many chambers inside the galls.

Leaf cutter bees (Megachile)

Leaf cutter bees - MegachileDamage:

  • Circular to oval feeding points on the leaf margins
  • local leaf loss
  • Cut material is used by the bees to create breeding grounds
  • Breeding sites not at the rose (possible up to a distance of 100 meters)
  • The offspring are not nourished by the rose

Measures:

  • Damage rather low
  • No action necessary

Note: If you do not take any measures here, you will help these wild bees, which look similar to the normal honey bee, but do not form states.

Common rose gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae)

Common rose gall wasp - Diplolepis rosaeThe common rose gall wasp belongs to the gall wasp family (Cynipidae).

Damage:

  • Gallen, also called rose apple, bedeguare or sleeping apple
  • spherical swellings instead of rosebuds at the middle or upper end of the shoot
  • five to ten centimeters in diameter
  • many colored moss to hairy outgrowths (greenish, yellowish reddish)
  • The chambers of the rose gall are used for larval development

Measure:

  • remove with one cut

Common rose chafer (Cetonia aurata)

Rose chafer - Cetonia aurataSynonyms: Rose Beetle, Shiny Gold Rose Beetle

Damage:

  • Pollen damage

Note: This beetle species is protected in Germany. However, it does not cause much damage either.

Goldafter (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)

Goldafter (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)Damage:

  • Laying eggs on the underside of the leaves
  • around 250 pieces per clutch
  • elongated clutch: 2 x 0.5 centimeters
  • covered with golden yellow anus wool
  • Clutch rather inconspicuous
  • to be found in the outer, upper crown area
  • Caterpillars hatch after two weeks
  • Scraping damage to the upper side of the leaf
  • give off spinning fines
  • together with other leaves: fist-sized nest
  • after overwintering: feeding on buds, then leaves (balding)
  • Pupation on leaf or stem in June

Note: The hair of the egg clutches and the caterpillars cause skin reactions in humans.

Measures:

  • remove the web in winter

Little rose chafer (Phyllopertha horticola)

Small rose chafer - Phyllopertha horticolaSynonyms: Garden leaf beetle, June beetle

Damage:

  • Feed marks on leaves and rose petals
  • End of May to end of June

Measures:

  • Collect bugs

Rose-leaf gall mosquito (Wachtliella rosarum)

Damage:

  • Leaves of the rose folded along the midrib
  • Gallen initially greenish, later reddish brown
  • on upper shoots or To find leaf days
  • inside: legless larvae of the rose-leaf gall mosquito
  • Oviposition in late spring on the central axis of the leaves

Measures:

  • collecting the leaves

Rose petal wasp (Blennocampa phyllocolpa or Blennocampa pusilla)

Sawfly wasps (Blennocampinae) belong to the family of sawfly (Tenthredinidae). They are often with the wasps (Tiphiidae) confused by name, but there is no relationship between the hymenoptera. There are various subfamilies within the true sawfly, such as the sawfly wasps (Blennocampinae).

Damage:

  • rolled up leaves
  • by the female of the rose petal wasp laying eggs on the leaf margins
  • Hatching time of the larvae: between April and June

Measures:

  • Immediately remove the infected leaves and dispose of them in household waste

Rose blossom cutter (Mecorhis ungarica)

Rose blossom cutter - Mecorhis ungaricaSynonyms: Bud picker, raspberry blossom picker

Damage:

  • trimmed stem below the bud
  • Females lay an egg in each bud
  • Larvae feed on the inside of the bud
  • new generation in June and July: still feeding on the leaves

Measures:

  • drooping resp. Burn fallen buds or dispose of them safely in household waste

Rose brush wasp (Arge rosae; Arge ochropus)

Rose brush wasp - Arge rosae - Arge ochropusSynonyms: Yellow bow tie, sewing bow tie

Damage:

  • Laying eggs at the top of the rose shoots
  • 15-20 pieces in a row
  • seam-like structure (name!)
  • Brown spots
  • twisting shoots
  • Larvae eat leaves (from the leaf edge to the midrib)

Measures:

  • Remove larvae mechanically
  • Cut off shoot tips with clutches

Rose flea beetle (Luperomorpha xanthodera)

Rose Flea Beetle - Luperomorpha xanthoderaSynonyms: Flea beetle

Damage:

  • adult beetles: pollen and nectar, feeding on flowers
  • Larvae in the root system of the plants (suspected)

Measures:

  • usually no control necessary

Arrow owl (Acronica psi; Arconycta psi; Apatele psi)

Arrow owl - Acronica psi - Arconycta psi - Apatele psiDamage:

  • Leaf damage by the caterpillars

Measures:

  • mechanical removal of the caterpillars

Black rose wasp (Endelomyia aethiops; Caliora aethiops)

Black rose wasp (Endelomyia aethiops; Caliora aethiops)The plant wasp also belongs to the true sawfly, more precisely to the subfamily of the Heterarthrinae.

Synonyms: Rose wasp

Damage:

  • Scraped areas on the leaf margins and upper sides
  • "Holes" in the rose petals
  • Leaves are "skeletonized"
  • Infestation recognizable from May or June
  • Particularly endangered roses: field rose (Rosa arvensis), dog rose (Rosa canina)

Measures:

  • Immediately remove infected leaves and shoots and dispose of them in household waste

Leaf miner

Under the so-called Mining is to be understood as a damage pattern that is located inside the shoots. Because in this case the offspring does not eat outwardly, but "bores" feeding tunnels into the shoots. This so-called Mining tunnels are not that easy to recognize from the outside. But the entry point is often a good indicator of the infestation.

Descending rose shoot borer (Ardis brunniventis)

Damage:

  • short mining tunnels at the tip of the shoots
  • up to 5 inches long
  • The tip of the shoot kinks and dies

Ascending rose shoots (Blennocampa elongatula)

  • Mining walks in the direction of the Triebspitze
  • up to 10 inches long
  • Borehole often under a sting
  • Crumbs of excrement at the borehole
  • Oviposition from April

Fight:

  • Cut off infected shoots into healthy wood

Rose leaf miner (Coptotriche angusticollella; Emmetia angusticollella, Tischeria angusticollella)

Damage:

  • Upper side of the sheet: brightly colored space leads
  • z. T.: whole sheet affected
  • inside the mine: light colored larva
  • easily recognizable in backlight

Fight:

  • remove affected leaves

Rose jewel beetle (Agrilus cuprescens)

Rose jewel beetle - Agrilus cuprescensDamage:

  • mining larvae in the shoots of roses
  • Discoloration of the shoots
  • spindle-shaped swelling of the shoots
  • Cracks on the surface
  • Shoots break off
  • reduced budding or complete failure
  • dried up buds
  • Beetle hatches in June, feeding damage (negligible)

Fight:

  • Cut back affected shoots

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