Stripped!

Our poor callistemon tree outside the kitchen window was fine one day and decimated the next. Originally I'd put it down to the temperamental natural of native bush and climate conditions, however on closer inspection there were a few skeletalonised leaves suggesting maybe a pest was responsible.

We then noticed that the callistemon in the front garden was looking a little worse for wear with the defoliation of the crown. Looking closely we spotted the culprit - a caterpillar - not one but hundreds! A google search told me they are Long tailed callistemon sawfly larvae!

Treatment for these are to cut off affected branches and remove the caterpillars so that is what Andy and I did for an hour! These larvae are fantastic at camouflage as several times we thought we'd finish and find more!

Hopefully the front garden callistemon will be ok. The kitchen callistemon may not come back but it will be coming out anyway once the garage mudroom renos start.