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Social Pear Sawfly

Social Pear Sawfly is a 11 to 14 mm large sawfly.

recognize social pear sawfly
Social pear sawfly, photo: © Jos Cuppens, via Waarnemingen.be

Social Pear Sawfly (Neurotoma saltuum). These 11 to 14 mm large sawflies belong  to the family of sawflies (Symphyta). Females are blue-black and males are grayish yellow. During the months of May and June, these sawflies are active. The females lay + 200 eggs in rows of about forty on the underside of the leaf. After a week, the larvae hatch and eat the leaves bare during the months of July and August.
In the pear trees the colonies become visible with the decimeter large brownish tissue full of faeces from the larvae. The leaves in the webbing are eaten by the larvae.
The adult larvae – two-cm-long yellow caterpillars with a black head – hibernate in a cocoon in the ground. In May, they pupate and the adult sawflies emerge.

Where to find

Control

Remove the webbing by hand or with a powerful water jet.

Prevention

Provide a bird-friendly environment: birds eat the caterpillars .

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