MSU Extension Integrated Pest Management

Chewing pests

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.

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.

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.

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