caterpillar on gingko tree ?

Hello,
One of my zombie gingko trees feigned to be alive this year, then I saw some eaten leaves on one of its branches.
Some leaves are cut down to their stem, and a silk burrow is visible.
It looks like caterpillar work to me.
Problem is : it is a gingko biloba tree, and we are in Belgium, Northwestern Europe ...
Does anybody have an idea of the little motherfucker adorable little creature that could make that kind of work ?
I did not see the caterpillar itself - perhaps a hornet has already patrolled the area, they kinda look hungry.
Have a nice evening,
Oliver

Since you have not seen a caterpillar I would suggest that damage was done by a grasshopper.

Caterpillars usually feed on one plant where grasshoppers would hop away and go on to other plants or even your neighbors ...

did you unfold that folded-over bundle of leaves just up and right of where the leaf you’re holding attaches? i’ve found little wormies (maybe caterpillars, but maybe also beetle larvae, it can be hard to tell at that size) in that sort of spot from time to time…but not on ginkgo, which i do have. worth looking!

Thank you for the replies.

greg mosser wrote:did you unfold that folded-over bundle of leaves just up and right of where the leaf you’re holding attaches? i’ve found little wormies (maybe caterpillars, but maybe also beetle larvae, it can be hard to tell at that size) in that sort of spot from time to time…but not on ginkgo, which i do have. worth looking!

Indeed, it was stitched together and there was a tube of silk in there, but nobody to be seen.
To this day, I have not seen anybody else - and the garden is busy with grasshoppers for sure, but no other leaves have been damaged.
Which is good, because this poor tree does not have a lot of leaves to start with. It is resprouting from the base right now.

Have a nice afternoon,
Oliver

I feel your pain, Oliver, although in my case it's bunnies eating my beans off below any growing point!

That said, I recently watched a presentation which talked about how the lack of caterpillars is contributing to a drop in bird populations. It take a huge number of caterpillars to raise a hungry chick to fledging stage. A sign of a lack of caterpillars over-all, is the huge drop in insect populations, which I have noticed on my farm this year despite being in a location where there are still areas left wild.

It's hard, since you don't know who did the munching, but planting some native plants that you're willing to sacrifice to baby munchers may encourage them away from things you would prefer not munched.

I hope your ginkgo makes it. Did you start it from seed? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl ginkgo? (yes, it's one of those trees - very ancient and both sexes aren't on the same plant)