Sawfly emergency - please help!

[April229]

Would be really grateful for some advice, sawfly caterpillars are down to their last ten leaves of my raspberry bush, is there a treatment I can use that will still allow us to eat the raspberries?

Are they summer fruiting raspberries? If they are I wouldn't worry about the canes at all. Sawfly completely defoliate my gooseberry most years with no adverse effects to the bush overall. The fruit are still fine and the bush comes back year after year.

Thanks for replying, not sure if the type of raspberry it’s been fruiting since late spring - but every leave if now lace, save ten at the top, it’s stopped fruiting and looks close to death! It’s covered in small catapilliars but I don’t now what spray to use without making the fruit inedible!

It sounds like it's finished fruiting for the year then. No need to worry about spraying as it'll throw out new canes for next year and you can now cut down the fruited ones.

When we have had sawfly caterpillars on gooseberries we have removed them manually. Appreciate not this year for you!

I only have swearwords for these creatures.

I planted 6ft trough with geraniums I’d grown from plugs. They’re just coming into their peak, right opposite my open back door so I can see them when I’m my kitchen and they bring me simple pleasure. Last night all was well. I get home from work and the lot has been decimated!!! All the (30) plants are chewed and laced. DH got a washing up bowl, put it under each plant and shook. He’s got about 150-200 off but I think it’s doomed.

I am so angry!!

And to top it all, I think tomorrow might be flying ant day