That’s over 250 million years ago! Treat sawfly larvae when they are young and half their full-grown size or less. Dogwood sawfly Macremphytus tarsatus Order Hymenoptera, Family Tenthredinidae •Adult sawflies emerge in late spring and lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves. Life Cycle. Smoosh Them. •When the eggs hatch in mid-summer, the first stage larvae are tiny, yellow, and translucent. They may roll up the leaves or spin webs. Sawfly Larvae Infesting our Dogwood Dipel Bt to the Rescue… Again! So how do you kill sawfly larvae naturally, without pesticides? Speaking of wormy-like pests, we discovered an infestation of sawfly larvas—those fuzzy white crawlies that look like caterpillars—on our red twig dogwood bush. In the late spring, shortly after trees have come into full leaf, the adults emerge and deposit their eggs in the leaves. A few species leave galls on the foliage. The winter is passed in the soil inside a cocoon. The female lays eggs in tiny terminal leaves of the dogwood. Get some gloves and go over your rose petal leaves. Currently, there are roughly eight thousand species of sawflies on Earth. As you can see, they consumed about 50% of the leaves before we spied them. Dogwood sawfly is an insect that can be difficult to identify. Some leave holes or notches in the leaves, while others skeletonize the leaves by completely devouring the tissue between the veins. This is one of the easiest methods to get rid of them (though it is kinda gross). Find out more from Hedgerow Rose. The larva hatches and enters the shoot. The adult (1/5 inch long) is a black and yellow, 4-winged non-stinging wasp (sawfly) that is rarely noticed. When fully mature, pear sawfly larvae resemble green-orange caterpillars. Leaf and flower blight Irregular, brown, wrinkled patches form on flower bracts and leaves in the spring. You will most likely find them underneath the leaves. Sawfly damage is caused by the larvae that feed on the plants in several different ways, depending on the species. Kousa dogwood (C. kousa) and hybrids of kousa and native dogwood (C. florida) are resistant to anthracnose and decline and should be used to replace dying trees. As they grow and molt, they become covered with a white waxy coating. If larvae are fully grown, the damage is done and treatment is not effective. The sawfly has been in existence since the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era. In response to the feeding and growth of the larva, a ½-1 inch long club- or spindle-shaped tubular swelling (gall) forms at the tip or along the stem. Dogwood Sawfly. Dogwood Club-Gall Midge: The dogwood club-gall midge (Resseliella clavula) is a small fly, about 1 / 16-inch long. Simply rub your fingers over each leaf, and smoosh any you come across. Dealing with a Sawfly Problem.