These tiny pests have a big appetite for rose leaves.
Learn how to recognize the signs of damage and get rid of them.
The good news is that there are a few easy ways to get them under control.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Here’s how to get rid of rose slugs.
What Is a Rose Slug?
Rose slugs look like caterpillars or even miniature slugs, hence their name.
But a rose slug isneither a true slugnor a caterpillar (which becomes a moth orbutterfly).
Instead, those velvety green worms on roses are simply larvae of the rose sawfly.
Rose slugs can get up to half an inch long.
The remaining veins of the leaf they don’t eat will turn brown and crisp.
The damaged foliage will have a window-pane or skeletonized appearance.
Start looking for sawfly larvae on the lower surfaces of your rose leaves in mid-spring.
The larvae only stick around for about a month before they make their cocoons.
Be sure to spray the water on the leaves' upper and undersides.
Using insecticidal soap or neem oil to control these pests is also an option.
