Caliroa cerasi

Cherry slug sawfly

Description

Adults are 4–6 mm long wasps. They are shiny black with legs partly brown. The slug shaped larvae are brown-yellow or bottle green colored, covered by dark slime exuding from their skin. They feed on the upper surface of leaves causing large skeletonized patches. Only the veins and the lower epidermis of the leaf remain. Adults fly in May and oviposit on the lower side of the leaf. After feeding, the larvae cast their slime, appear as yellow caterpillars and bury in the ground, spinning an oval cocoon covered with soil. Two generations per year. It occurs in orchards, wild cherry plantations and sparse wild cherry trees in mixed broadleaved forests, from sea level to 1,000 m.

Symptom

The slug shaped larvae are brown-yellow or bottle green colored, covered by dark slime exuding from their skin. They feed on the upper surface of leaves causing large skeletonized patches.

Tree Species: Cherry, Pear, Plum

Part of a plant- attacked: Leaf / Needle

Pest significance: Less harmful

Pest Category: Insects

Invasive Species: No

Present in EU: Yes