[julieanne1811]

I have found this as a biological control. It has to be sprayed onto live larvae to work and lasts two weeks. So ... if I made sure the ground around the bush was wet and then sprayed it onto the ground and forked it it, would it demolish the pupae?

Any advice for a complet novice?

[mumofstig]

nope............ it only works on the caterpillars. 

[julieanne1811]

Darn ... that's out then. The odd thing is that in all my inspecting the plant to try and work out what was happening I never saw a single caterpillar ... Oh well, physical barrier and spray of some kind will be my modus operandi. And lots of mulch to try and give the poor plant a chance next year!

[julieanne1811]

I have another question about gooseberry sawfly ... as they pupate around the base of the bush would it make any difference if I removed the soil around the base and replaced it with new? To what depth do they pupate? And does anyone kknow what the pupae look like, please?