Insects - Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers - page 380

Priophorus morio (Lepeletier) ( 1028 )
syn. P. brullei Dahlbom; P. tener (Zaddach)
Small raspberry sawfly
A widespread and locally common species, sometimes
infesting rowan ( Sorbus aucuparia ), including
ornamental trees in gardens, but associated mainly with
raspberry and other cane fruits. The larvae feed on the
expanded leaves from late May or early June onwards
but do not cause significant damage. Fully grown
individuals ( c . 12 mm long) are whitish and translucent,
but mainly black dorsally, with numerous whitish hairs
arising from pale verrucae; the head is black and shiny.
Adults are about 5-7 mm long and mainly black with
pale legs. There are two or more generations annually.

DESCRIPTION
Adult: 4.5-5.5 mm long; mainly black, with light
brown legs. Larva: up to 10 mm long; head greenish
yellow to blackish; body green and shiny.

LIFE HISTORY
Adults occur from April or May onwards, there being
three or more generations annually. The larvae feed on
the leaves of host plants, biting out large holes in the
edges of leaves whilst lying with the abdomen curled
beneath the leaf blade. They are fully fed within a few
weeks, and then drop from the host plant to pupate in
brownish-orange cocoons. During the summer months,
pupal development is rapid and adults emerge within
about two weeks.

Pristiphora aquilegiae (Vollenhoven) ( 1029 )
syn. P. alnivora (Hartig)
Columbine sawfly
A common and often important pest of columbine
( Aquilegia vulgaris ). Widely distributed in central
Europe; now well established in southern England,
where it was first reported in 1946.

DAMAGE
Defoliation is often very extensive, affecting both the
appearance and vigour of infested plants.

Pristiphora testacea (Jurine) ( 1030-1031 )
syn. P. betulae (Retzius)
A locally common pest of birch ( Betula ). Widely
distributed in central and northern Europe but absent
from more northerly areas.

1028

DESCRIPTION
Adult: 5-7 mm long; mainly black, with orange-yellow
tegulae and an orange-yellow abdomen; wings hyaline,
the fore wings each with a black pterostigma. Larva: up
to 16 mm long; head black; body yellowish green and
shiny, with large orange-yellow lateral patches on the
second and third thoracic segments; body also with a
small, orange-yellow mark on each side of the first
abdominal segment, and with large lateral patches on
the second to eighth abdominal segments; legs light
green, with black claws.

1028 Larva of small raspberry sawfly ( Priophorus morio ).

LIFE HISTORY
Adults occur from late April or May to June, and in July
and August. Eggs are deposited in birch leaves, each
close to a major vein. The larvae feed gregariously on
the leaf edges during the summer months, a second
generation appearing in the autumn. Pupation occurs in
the soil in brownish cocoons.

1029

DAMAGE
Larvae bite out large pieces from the leaves but attacks
are rarely of significance, except on small ornamental or
nursery trees.

1029 Columbine sawfly ( Pristiphora aquilegiae ).