I have a couple of Thompson seedless grape vines planted so that I can harvest the leaves to feed to the tortoises. My problem is the grape leaf skeletonizers. They lay eggs on the underside of the leaves. When the eggs hatch out, 20 or 30 of these little caterpillars march in a line eating all the leaves on the vine. In the past I have stood there, turning over every leaf, looking for the eggs or the larvae, then I pick the leaf or leaves and put them in a plastic bag to take to the garbage. The vines are getting too big now to do that anymore. I haven't been able to use pesticide because I use the leaves for tortoise food.
Do any of you know a way to kill these little caterpillars before they decimate my vines?
Do any of you know a way to kill these little caterpillars before they decimate my vines?