Solved Jostaberry plague

Something's eating the leaves massively, and the internet hasn't given me the answer yet. They look like tiny black dots which cluster (?blackfly, but much more voracious). They fall off if you shake the bush.

Has anyone any ideas?

Thanks!!!

 

@Matthew13 can you upload a picture please.

 

Most of them seem to have done a runner (well, flyer or crawler anyway). But the remaining ones look like this (large ones).

 

And this is what they've done to the leaves.

 

The eggs in the leaves.

 

Thanks for any advice!

 

I don't know if my camera can do a better zoom, but this is a crop and zoom.

 

Might that be a flea beetle?

 

Could it be black fly? I've got an on off infestation on some nearby courgettes, but they're not eating the leaves!

Also, there's lots of holes in the strawberry leaves, but not the kind of devastation as on the jostaberry.

I'll keep an eye open.

 

My money's on flea beetle - they actually jump off if you shake the bush and jump back on when the coast is clear. I had a cracking Tropaeolum peregrinum a few years ago and they stripped it in 36 hours.

 

Looking at the damage it's caused to quite a lot of leaves, in quite a dramatic way (see pics), I'm surprised I can't see whatever-it-is more obviously. I would have thought it would be a bug big enough to take down a small dog.

I did hear a grasshopper/cricket. Could that be the culprit?

Either way, what do I do?

Thanks!

 

It turned out to be a caterpillar, which was well camouflaged.

Case closed.