Sawflies, herbaceous perennials

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IPM Scouting in Herbaceous Perennials

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Sawflies

Young sawfly larvae skeletonize leaves initially and consume the entire leaf except for the midvein as they mature. Adults are large, robust insects that resemble bees or wasps with a dark body and long antennae. Females lay eggs on the undersides of leaves.

Management: Hand pick small numbers of sawfly larvae. Contact insecticides, applied early, are effective in controlling the young larvae. Although sawfly larvae resemble caterpillars, they are in the insect order Hymenoptera, not Lepidoptera, so they are not susceptible to the bacterial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, which is used to control young caterpillars.

Sawfly larvae, which resemble caterpillars, vary in color from green, red, yellow and tan to black. Larvae tend to feed in groups during the evening.

This information was developed from A Pocket Guide for IPM Scouting in Herbaceous Perennials by Jan Byrne and Raymond A. Cloyd. Purchase this in a pocket-sized guide for reference in the orchard from MSU Extension (publication E-2981).

The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated 8/07/07