{"id":3795,"date":"2012-12-07T14:48:55","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T19:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?page_id=3795"},"modified":"2023-06-07T16:29:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T20:29:29","slug":"european-pine-sawfly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/european-pine-sawfly\/","title":{"rendered":"European Pine Sawfly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"European<\/a>
European Pine Sawfly larvae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The European Pine Sawfly<\/strong>, Neodiprion sertifer<\/em> (Geoffroy), is an insect that infests pines and is originally from Europe, as its name suggests.\u00a0 It was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1925.\u00a0 It prefers Mugho\/Mugo, Scots\/Scotch, Japanese red, Jack and Swiss mountain pines, but it will also survive on eastern white, Austrian, Ponderosa, shortleaf and pitch pines though it is described as rarely feeding on those.\u00a0 It is now a very<\/em> common resident of pines in landscapes, Christmas tree farms, and ornamental nurseries.\u00a0 It is established from southwestern Ontario through New England and west as far as Iowa.<\/p>\n

The damaging stage of this pest is the caterpillar-like* larval stage which takes place from mid to late May and lasts through June.\u00a0 The larvae eat the old needles from previous years and will leave current-year needles unscathed, so the injury won’t kill the host tree but repeated loss of old needles can slow the growth of the tree and can look unsightly.\u00a0 In order to appear more menacing, the larvae feed in groups and raise up their heads when disturbed (many sawfly larvae exhibit this head-rearing behavior).\u00a0 The larvae will strip an entire branch of its old needles before moving on to another branch.\u00a0 Occasionally they may also feed on the bark of new shoots which can result in the death of the twig.<\/p>\n

Pupation occurs in the soil or on the trees themselves, and then the adult sawflies–which resemble wasps (see photo link below)<\/em>–can be found from early September through late into the fall.\u00a0 Mated females lay their eggs on the current season’s needles out near the ends of the branches.\u00a0 There is only one generation per year.<\/p>\n

*Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars but they are actually the larvae of primitive wasp-like insects.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t