Pear Sawfly
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Beginner
This pest affects:
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Scientific name
Hoplocampa brevis
Identification
Adults
- Wasp-like insect
- Reddish-yellow with yellow legs
- 4-5 mm long
- 8-12 mm long
- Reddish-brown head, greyish-yellow body
Damage
- Hole in the side or calyx end of small fruitlets
- Tunnelling in young fruitlet and moist frass present around the point of entry
- Hollowed out fruit
- Premature fruit drop
Often confused with
Blossom midge – Fruit flattened and malformed with no entry hole or frass present
Codling moth damage- damage does not appear until five or more weeks after petal fall
Oriental Fruit Moth –does not target pears until the fruit is much larger and more mature (closer to harvest)
Tarnished plant bug damage- “stings” penetrate only the outer layer of the fruit and no larvae or tunnelling will be present inside the fruit
Period of Activity
Adult females lay eggs on pear blossoms at late bloom.
Scouting notes
Be aware of any past problems of pear fruit sawfly in any given block. Monitor fruitlets at fruit set for injury and focus on border areas.
Thresholds
No thresholds have been established. This is a sporadic pest of pear in Ontario.
Advanced
This pest affects:
| ; |
Scientific name
Hoplocampa brevis
Identification
Adults
- Wasp-like insect
- Reddish-yellow with yellow legs
- 4-5 mm long
Larvae
- 8-12 mm long
- Reddish-brown head, greyish-yellow body
Damage
- Hole in the side or calyx end of small fruitlets
- Tunnelling in young fruitlet and moist frass present around the point of entry
- Hollowed out fruit
- Premature fruit drop
Often confused with
Blossom midge – Fruit flattened and malformed with no entry hole or frass present
Codling moth damage- damage does not appear until five or more weeks after petal fall
Oriental Fruit Moth –does not target pears until the fruit is much larger and more mature (closer to harvest)
Tarnished plant bug damage- “stings” penetrate only the outer layer of the fruit and no larvae or tunnelling will be present inside the fruit
Biology
The female emerges in the spring and lays an egg beneath the epidermis between 2 sepals in the flower buds at late bloom. The egg hatches and the larva feeds beneath the epidermis of the young fruit, at the base of the sepals which then wither. It then burrows towards the centre of the fruit and bites through the seeds. Sometimes larva move to and feed on another fruitlet. The infested fruitlets drop and the mature larva leaves the fruit and, burrows down a few cm into the ground and then spins a silken cocoon. It remains in diapause over the winter, and pupates in spring. There is one generation per year.
Period of Activity
Adult females lay eggs on pear blossoms at late bloom.
Scouting notes
Be aware of any past problems of pear fruit sawfly in any given block. Monitor fruitlets at fruit set for injury and focus on border areas.
Thresholds
No thresholds have been established. This is a sporadic pest of pear in Ontario.
Management Notes
There are no products registered for pear fruit sawfly control in Ontario. It is usually controlled by chemical applications for other pests at the petal fall period. In most cases, fruit infestation is confined to border areas.
Some information included above excerpted from;
