Honeysuckle Leaf Damage

Identification

• Foliage-feeding caterpillar are likely to infest honeysuckle plants. The pests with three pairs of legs are the larvae of butterflies and moths. Commonly occurring foliage-feeding caterpillars include fall webworm, fruittree leafroller and cotoneaster webworm.

Symptoms

• All foliage caterpillars are leaf eaters with varying eating habits. The fruittree leafrollers roll the foliage with their silk and feed inside the small cavities, while some openly eat entire leaves with the veins. Severe leaf damage weakens plants and causes branches to die. Heavy pest infestation kills entire plants.

Management

• Prune and remove all infested plant areas. You can pick and remove the caterpillars manually in cases of light population. Introduce natural predators such as ground beetle, green lacewings and soldier beetles in affected plants. Apply Bacillus thuringiensis as a chemical control option.