Native to Eurasia, thisgarden pesthas been introduced to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
The larvae can do significant damage to roses; here is how to manage them.
What Do Rose Sawflies and Slugs Look Like?
The Spruce / Candra Huff
The adult large rose sawfly is about 1/3 inch long.
Its head and thorax are black; its abdomen and wings are orange.
They are an olive color except for the head, which is orangey-brown.
They can be as much as 3/4 inch long.
Their bodies are somewhat slimy.
Manual methods have the benefits of being free and not onlyorganic, but also safe for beneficial insects.
All in all, manual methods are your best option.
Hand-Pick Them Off
Regularly inspect the undersides of the leaves of your rose bushes.
If you spot rose slugs on them, pick them off by hand.
This is the most straightforward manual means of control.
This manual method will be preferred by those who are squeamish about touching caterpillar-like critters.
All three kill rose slugs when they come into contact with them.
Use Beneficial Garden Insects
Rose slugs have natural enemies that will eat them.
These include parasitic wasps and predatory beetles.
Such beneficial insects can be bought online.
Likewise, an infestation can make a compromised plant more susceptible to a disease in the future.
The surest way to know you have an infestation is to detect the larvae on the leaves.
The result will be a skeletonized leaf.
The “bones” (veins) then turn brown.
What Causes a Rose Sawfly Infestation?
There are natural enemies to the rose sawfly and its larvae outside of the insect world as well.
Create a predator-friendly environment in your landscape so that predators will stay/come and thrive.
So begin bygiving your roses the basic carethat they need to thrive.
An example is imidacloprid.
However, this bang out of insecticide, too can harm beneficial insects.
The wasp-like adult emerges from pupation in early spring.
The female lays her eggs on the underside of a leaf of a rose bush.
The resultant larvae come out in several weeks to begin their month-long decimation of the plant’s leaves.
For purposes of prevention, take advantage of the pupation stage.
Arge ochropus Larvae vs.
Similar Pests
There are many caterpillar-like larvae that attack your ornamental plants.
The rose is just one ornamental plant that is attacked by sawflies.
No, they are quite harmless to humans.
Their larvae do not bite either.
No, but they are related to wasps.
They differ from wasps in not having a “waist.”
Roseslug or Rose Sawfly| NC State Extension Publications.
