European Apple Sawfly: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life Cycle

Latin Name: Hoplocampa Testudinea

Appearance: Hoplocampa Testudinea, sometimes known as the apple sawfly or European apple sawfly, is a sawfly species in the Tenthredinidae family. It is native to Europe, but it was unintentionally transported into North America, where it quickly grew invasive. The adult resembles a little orange-brown wasp, with orange ventral side and legs. It has translucent wings with many veins. The round and transparent egg is put into the flower’s receptacle. The larva is cream in color with a black head and seven pairs of prolegs, the final four of which are referred to as “pseudopods.”

Hosts Plants: It mainly attacks apple trees.

Territory: Europe

Damage Insect Cause: Apple is the primary target. Early larval feeding causes dark spiral scars on the fruit’s surface. Later, more extensive damage includes larvae digging and exit holes, through which moist, reddish-brown frass with a pungent stench flow. Larvae will penetrate several fruits, usually leaving frass-covered entrance pores; complete clusters can be lost.

Life History and Habits: Adult European apple sawflies are approximately 516 inch long and look like wasps with a wide attachment of the thorax and abdomen. Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars, but they have prolegs on each abdominal segment. Sawfly larvae overwinter in the soil and have just one generation every year. Adults appear in late pink and early bloom. The calyx end of maturing fruit is where eggs are placed. The first instar larvae burrow just beneath the fruit’s skin, resulting in the distinctive ribbonlike scar. These apples are often left on the tree, and the appearance of scars during harvest might lower fruit value. The second and older instar larvae dig deeply into the fruit’s seed chamber and can pierce more fruit, resulting in fruit abortion. “Secondary damage” refers to later instar injuries on fruit with a brownish frass near the entrance.