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Photography with cameras
Nikon D3x, Nikon D300, Canon 50D
Image editing with Photoshop |
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| | | | Pear Sawfly - Cherry slug | | The Pear Sawfly (Larvae: cherry slug, also called the pear slug) (Caliroa cerasi), is a species in the order Hymenoptera, the suborder sawflies (Symphyta), the family Tenthredinidae, the subfamily Blennocampinae, and the genus Caliroa. This species is widespread and common throughout the world. | | |
| | | Adult Pear Sawflies can reach body lengths of about 5 mm and wingspans of up to 10 mm. Their bodies are uniformly black in colour. The larvae are club-shaped, tapering towards the rear end of the body, and are about 10 mm in length. The larvae are initially white, later yellow to yellow-green in colour and are covered with an ink-like, smelly, shiny-black layer of mucus until the end of the penultimate larval stage. This protects them from predators and causes them to resemble little slugs. The larvae have 3 pairs of sternal legs and 7 pairs of abdominal legs. They are difficult to make out and are seen most easily in profile. | | |
| | | The Pear Sawfly prefers habitats such as forests and gardens. Depending on the weather, it produces 2 or 3 new generations a year. Reproduction is normally parthenogenetic (without males). The females of the spring generation leave the soil in early May and lay their eggs, in June, on the leaves of different plants, such as cherry, pear, juneberry, mountain ash, hawthorn, quince, birch or roses. They scratch into the leaf tissue with their ovipositor, forming a small pocket in which a single egg is deposited. After 2 weeks, the larvae hatch and crawl sluggishly on top of the leaf and eat the tissue under scraping. They skeletonize individual leaf parts without the venation (ribs, leaf veins) and the lower epidermis. The dry leaves go brown or roll up. The larvae (cherry slug) produce no more mucus in the final stage of their development. In July, they drop from the leaf and immediately create an egg-shaped tissue below the soil’s surface, in which they quickly pupate. About 2 weeks later (in July and August), the adults of the 2nd cherry slug generation hatch, mate and lay eggs. The larvae (cherry slugs) are active from September to October. They also pupate and overwinter in the soil. They leave the pupae as adult cherry slugs in the spring. | | |
| | | Pear Sawflies usually only occur in small numbers. En masse, larvae of the 2nd generation can cause significant damage to fruit trees. | | |
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| | Description of images / photos
Photography with Cameras
Nikon D3x, Nikon D300, Canon 50D
Image editing with Photoshop | | 1. | Pear Sawfly Larva - Caliroa cerasi - eating from a leave |
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