I have been wondering about who’s eating the beech leaves in the front yard and last week I found the culprits: Sawfly larvae.
Not that I mind, I don’t want a beech tree in front of the house so any help in keeping it small is appreciated. Though in these pictures they’re devouring the redflower currant, which I don’t appreciate that much.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
©Giliell, all rights reserved
©Giliell, all rights reserved
Those are not beech leaves, those look more like hazelnut.
Edit: Sorry, I read it wrong on first read. But these leaves and buds do not look like red currant either, but that might be because the focus is on the larvae and not the leaves.
Charly, they’re not usual redcurrants, but redbloom currants, a pretty but fruitless variety for the front yard.
Thanks for the clarification. I got so hung up on the leaves that I forgot to not ethat the larvae are beautiful, but in a kinda creepy kind of way.
Do they move in unisson when disturbed? Some of these communal larvae do sway in perfect synchronization when approached and it looks freaky. Allegedly they do it to spook predatory birds by portraying an illusion of a bigger animal.
What chubby little bugs. They seem to be eating very well.
The synchronized question mark pose is a very fine catch.