Hello~ I was reading the info Todd posted and your reply. I believe I have the same worm/maggot that inhabits the berries, but I also have what appears to be a caterpillar or maggot that decimates all the plant foliage. Is this caused by the same maggot or is it perhaps a different pest? Thank you so much~ Rose Snohomish, WA USA
a common defoliator of currant is the Bruce Spanworm but its normal occurence is a few months ago for the pacific northwest.
Mr. Buikema~ Thank you so much for the post; I found pictures of the Bruce Spanworm online, but am not sure it is the culprit. The pests I noted were very light green in coloration and I did not notice any markings, there was an extremely small number of all white as well. There appeared to be two onsets - I thought I had them under control by hand squishing them (a nasty task but I'd hoped effective) and then another outbreak came just a few weeks ago. It seemed they decimated the foliage within a few days. Thanks so much for your expertise and willingness to share info! Rose
Ha! I dont get called Mr very often, usually when my wife has something important to tell me :) The bruce spanworm seems to hit around the end of April here, I am north of you but not too far near Vancouver BC. As for the differences in the ID, a picture or two of your insect(s) would speak a thousand words. For control consider BtK, a bacterial caterpiller control. Wait till you see a good handful present and use the product, then look again about 4 days later to see if you need a second application. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis
