Michigan State University Extension
Ornamental Plants plus Version 3.0 - 00001715
11/12/99
Sawflies
Sawflies superficially resemble caterpillars but are
taxonomically very different. Sawflies are the larval
stages of a group of wasps. Unlike caterpillars, which
have only two to four pairs of prolegs, sawflies have
prolegs on every abdominal segment. It's important to
distinguish sawflies from caterpillars because sawflies
are not susceptible to Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t. or
Dipel), a widely used microbial insecticide for
caterpillars. Adult sawflies are small (8 to 25 mm),
dark, flylike wasps. Most larvae are either leaf-chewing
and caterpillarlike, or maggotlike leaf miners that cause
leaf blisters or leaf blotches.
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This file was generated from data base ZZ on 01/19/00.
Data base ZZ was last revised on 11/12/99.
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