Help - moth caterpillars infesting fig tree!

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I have a young fig tree which has suddenly acquired a caterpillar problem. Some leaves are fine but many have big patches where the leaf has been half skeletonised and there are fine webs. Inside the webs I can see some light green caterpillars and I think I saw a moth too.

How do I treat it please? Do I cut off the affected leaves? Any spray you would recommend? The tree is important for my garden’s privacy so I really really want to save it.

I found this

https://www.norfolkmoths.co.uk/micros.php?bf=3891

It seems to be a new addition to British fauna, so they're asking for people to submit records. Apparently there's a beetle that eats the leave but I think they're unlikely to have silk, so it's probably the moth.

Interesting! The pictures look similar. How do I stop the little bastards 😩

Have you seen the RHS page below?

The most eco friendly thing to do would be to squash the caterpillars, going back every day to go again. That might be enough for the tree to make it through.

Second option - organic bug sprays. They need applying frequently but aren’t so damaging to other insects as non-organic options.

Third option - chemical pesticides. If you expect to grow figs and eat them you will need to carefully follow the instructions to make sure you don’t poison yourself. They’re also very bad for bees etc.

RHS has a list of options and the page below should help.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/tortrix-moth-caterpillars

Thank you! I have gone over the tree and removed all the affected leaves which was a LOT. Hopefully I haven’t shocked it so much it will die 😬. I only found one caterpillar but lots of webs with black specks (eggs?) in, so thought best to remove those too. I’ve also sprayed it with a feed & protect spray with castor oil in - a natural option I think? Let’s see…

Thanks for the pointers !

We have this too on our four small figs, worse than ever this year. I used to be able to remove the affected leaves but this year they'd be entirely bald.

In the absence of a real plan I started spraying with water with a drop of washing up liquid and wiping the leaves down with a damp cloth. It has helped and the trees look happier. I'm away for 10 days now so I hope it's not all undone when I get home.

OP how are your figs doing now?

I got back from my trip to find all this nonsense is over and I've got loads of new foliage and figs. Existing leaves are damaged and lacy but the new growth is intact.
Idk if the moths finished breeding anyway or if my soapy water spray helped tip it in favour of the tree.

Next year I'll try to 1) get on top of it sooner and 2) remember to feed the trees regularly, which I neglected to do this year.

Sadly it's probably too late for the new fruit to ripen but fingers crossed for next year.

I went away for a week and on return only three leaves were affected (and lots of new growth) so it’s heading in the right direction. Glad my vicious pruning didn’t kill it off.

There is a huge fig not far from me in a communal front garden, I can see it’s badly affected by the same thing so am hoping mine doesn’t get re infested from there 😬

I don’t have any figs on mine but it’s never had any! Too young maybe… ?? Or soil is too poor possibly, it is in a very restricted bed.

You've reminded me, there's a huge tree in each of the roads on either side of my house. I'll have a look at the leaves when I pass, see if they're infested.

Mine have been in a very small raised bed forever, 10yrs or so. The bed was filled with compost from the home compost pile.

Steep learning curve as I'm not much of a gardener and it seems like I read a lot of contradictory advice about them. I'm not sure if I should remove excess leaves througout the spring and summer or only prune once in autumn; same with removing unripe fruit in autumn or leaving fruit on.

I don't feed them (will do now) but they fruit despite my hamfistedness. They seem to like their sheltered spot between the house and the fence.

I had this on mint plants. I squished what I could find and cut the plants right back. The black spots on leaves are their droppings, not eggs. There were dozens of caterpillars but I seem to have avoided a full herb-garden infestation without chemical treatment.

I have this too, and only today worked out what it was by posting a photos in my local community facebook group. I am in SELondon so the caterpillars/moths do seem to be getting about. I have cut away all the affected leaves (I also found only one tiny caterpillar but tons of white cocoon material with the black dots). Going to get a spray now and hopefully all will be well.

I’m now in France and there’s a massive fig tree covered in the webs. Clearly the moths are getting around!

Oh my goodness they are taking over the world! 😂