Strawberry leafrollers grow to about 1/2 inch long and change from green to grayish brown as they grow. - Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS, www.insectimages.org

Strawberry leafroller caterpillars are common pests in the eastern half of the country. They first appear in spring when they begin feeding on leaves and then roll themselves up in the leaves in silk webbing. Enclosed in the leaf, they continue to eat, but it takes a lot of leafrollers to truly damage a plant; most gardeners just live with them.

However, if more than about 20 percent of the leaves are affected, strawberries may be deformed. Infested leaves can turn brown and die so that the entire bed takes on a brownish cast and produces fewer runners.

If strawberry leafrollers have plagued your plants in the past, be sure to clean up the mulch under old plants and remove as many rolled leaves as possible at the end of the season. The pests spend the winter as pupae in rolled leaves or as larvae under surface debris. In spring, you will need to spray the foliage with Sevin or other insecticide recommended by your county Extension agent. Apply before the leaves are rolled and with enough pressure to cover the undersides of the leaves where the young begin feeding.