Leaf rollers: how to recognise and treat it

Pest

Leaf rollers — Photo: Patrick Clement, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Symptoms

Leaves rolled or bound together with silk, with a small green or brown caterpillar hiding inside.
The bound leaves dry up and turn brown; foliage looks ragged.
Bronze scars with a rough, net-like surface on the fruit skin.
Heavy attacks strip part or all of the leaves.

Organic treatment

Squeeze the rolled leaves to crush the caterpillars and pupae inside, or pick them off.
Spray Bacillus thuringiensis while the caterpillars are small; repeat as needed.
On fruit trees, a dormant oil spray kills the egg masses.

Chemical treatment

Spinosad at or soon after egg hatch; follow the label dose and pre-harvest interval.

Reference information, not a guarantee. Read and follow the label of any product: dose, safety and the days to wait before harvest.

Prevention

Check susceptible trees often so a damaging population does not build up.
Tolerate light damage; sprays are often unnecessary.
Encourage birds, wasps, parasitic flies and lacewings that attack the caterpillars.

Plants it affects

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.