The sawfly larvae LOOK like caterpillars to the uneducated eye but they are not. Sawfly larvae are much more inconspicuous. Larvae emerge in early spring and damage plants by eating leaves or needles.
A common sawfly in Minnesota is found on columbine. They have two significant parts of their life cycle and feast on different things. They mostly attack trees and shrubs.
Sawfly larvae eat only leaf matter, and this is where the majority of plant damage comes from.
More information and sightings to follow. Since there are so many different species of sawfly, their preferred host plants vary a great deal.
Adult sawflies eat a variety of things like honeydew, tree sap, plant nectar, pollen, and even other pests. Sawflies are related to wasps and bees.
These insects can be distinguished from most other hymenopterans by their broad waist, unlike the narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen of a wasp, and by their caterpillar-like larvae.
Sawfly Larvae Look Like Caterpillars Gardeners most often encounter sawflies when the larvae feed on their plants. Sawflies feed on a wide variety of: Most coniferous feeding sawflies eat the tree’s needles and buds. Sawfly larvae feeding on flower heads and leaves
The Berberis sawfly, Arge berberidis, has caterpillars that feed gregariously on species of berberis and mahonia shrubs and may cause severe defoliation.
You’ve done a good job catching a picture. Adult sawflies are usually inconspicuous flying insects with two pairs of wings and often dark coloured bodies and legs. They feed from the bottom of leaves and they are only out in early morning…so gardeners have a hard time seeing them. Sawflies are a group (sub-order Symphta) of insects in the same order as the bees, ants and wasps (Hymenoptera) that feed on plants.
At first glance, you might think you've got a caterpillar problem, but sawflies have behavioral and morphological differencesthat differentiate them from Lepidopteranlarvae. Deciduous feeders will skeletonize, mine, or chew holes in the leaves. This is a relatively recent colonist to gardens which appears to be spreading to many parts of the UK.