Hi, my lime flowers are now brown, crispy and covered in webs. I don't know what insect it is. This is the first time in 8 years that it has flowered and produced some fruit. Please help. I have tried soap/oil type sprays, but don't want to harm bees.

Hi Anna, this is caused by the citrus flower moth caterpillar, you will find frass from the caterpillars around the flowers with webbing. Remove the brown shriveled up flowers, frass and webbing, the caterpillar will be in amongst the petals, wrap in newspaper and throw away in the rubbish or burn to prevent the caterpillar spreading to other plants. Unfortunately you will need something a bit more heavy hitting than oil and soap to eliminate the caterpillar. Ask your local garden centre for an insecticide suitable for caterpillars, a pyrethrum based spray is effective, but only spray early in the morning or late in the afternoon when bees and other pollinators aren't foraging. The alternative to spraying is to continue to remove all of the brown flowers and fruitlets from the tree and keep doing this as the moth is likely to come back. As temperatures cool the moth will go into hibernation and will overwinter in the soil so it is important to collect up the webbing and brown flower petals. Try and improve air circulation around the tree by removing inner branches that may be crisscrossing to open up the foliage. Lianne.