Leslie, send the photo to Baldo. He will know.

Jeri

(Whatever it is, I don't want one!)

Thanks Jeri I will. I also thought maybe someone knew what it'd be also. I've got a 2nd ok pic too to send with this.
Leslie

I could be wrong, but I doubt it's a weevil. I identify insects for a living, and to me it looks more like a caterpillar (meaning it's a buttefly or moth), or that it's some sort of sawfly larva (meaning it's a sawfly, a relative of the bees, ants, & wasps). Weevils are usually (not always), curled into a "C" shape, and a bit more stubby than this. A close-up picture (where it more or less filled the field of view, with all focal planes in focus at the same time) would let me make a better identification (if I can),

I have an older camera that makes it hard for me to really blow it up. This bud is about a 1/2 inch big. This is very tiny. I shouldn't have called it a weevil, it's closer to a worm. I kept it in a container. I get any closer to it with the camera it blows completely. This 2nd pic isn't much better than for you then. I'll try seeing what else I can do with it. Thanks for being willing to give it a try.
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Leslie

This is now in half a dozen roses today. Here it is in Gemini petal. It is about an 1/4" long. They are in the fuller roses, large and small not in the singles and semi doubles.
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Thanks again for any help.
Leslie

Looks like a true caterpillar of some sort. Spraying the flowers with BT (not toxic to humans, pets, or beneficial insects--only to caterpillars) might take care of it.

Have a look at these pics...

Here is a link that might be useful: Baldo's bugs: rose caterpillars

I personally think it's preferable to identify what it is before you kill it.

Thanks, I did look at all of those on Baldo's site but they look a lot larger. I have similar large rose caterpillars on my roses and I also have rose slugs. These are a fraction of the size I'm found as those previously and they eat holes through the petals instead of eating the petals and the centers. These are my main pests. I still have about a 100 or so toads eating everything else up and I don't want to spray if I don't have to. I've been watching for the damage and plucking the slugs and caterpillars off when I find them and either feeding them to the toads or killing them.

I keep saving them when I find one of them, but they keep dying in the dish I put them in. It took me a couple dozen pics on different focus to get this pic or I'd try to put something in to measure this by and this creature doesn't hold still to try to take it's picture. I had just pulled a slug off another rose and squished it when I found this tiny one on Gemini, I wished I'd saved them both now.

I also found the first Preying Mantis of the summer yesterday, think they eat rose slugs and these?

Thanks for the opinions and the help.

Baldo says this is a budworm which is a catepillar and will become a moth.

Good catch Hoovb, I've got my share of these little monsters large and small then. At least the thrips discriminated and picked the light colored roses, these don't. The only problem with spraying the roses is that my Sequoia minis don't like BT. Like the thrips these are pretty deep inside the HT like blooms they seem to mostly prefer.

I like butterflies but what are moths important for besides eating holes in my clothing also??

I still thought I'd come back and offer the answer up.