Gooseberry Sawfly (Nematus ribesii, #624)

I guess it’s one of the good things about a garden nature list that when you find some disastrous garden pest instead of throwing your hands up in horror like most gardeners, you just think it’s cool to add a new species to the list. Case in point is this Gooseberry Sawfly larva, found while I was cutting back the gooseberry bush (where anyhow gooseberry mildew had destroyed most of the crop). These larvae are quite pretty really, but in a bad infestation they will literally strip all the leaves off a gooseberry bush, and then move on to do the red currents. These sawflies have up to 3 generations in one year, so I might be less relaxed about it by the end of the summer.

#624 Gooseberry Sawfly - Nematus ribesii