Biology:Pear slug

Short description: Species of sawfly

Pear slug
Adult (top) and larva with leaf damage (bottom)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Symphyta
Family:	Tenthredinidae
Genus:	Caliroa
Species:	C. cerasi
Binomial name
Caliroa cerasi (Linnaeus, 1758)

Caliroa cerasi is a species of sawfly belonging to the family Tenthredinidae. The larva of this insect are commonly referred to as the pear slug or cherry slug and are a nearly worldwide agricultural pest. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The pear slug is an important pest that eats leaves of cherry, pear, plum and hawthorn trees, leaving behind a skeleton of veins. The larvae cover themselves in green slime, making themselves unpalatable to predators. They molt between five and eight times before being fully grown. When the larvae are fully grown, they drop from the tree to the ground and pupate underground. The adult sawfly emerges from the pupal case and climbs from the soil to mate and lays eggs on the leaves of the host plant, completing the life cycle.

In New Zealand the biocontrol agent species Lathrolestes luteolator has been released on two separate occasions in an attempt to control this agricultural pest.

Pear slug larva on a plum tree

thumb

External links

• Data related to Caliroa cerasi at Wikispecies
• Australian Insects
• "Species Details Caliroa cerasi". E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum. 2004. https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/g/2-5438. 
• Itis classification
• The sawflies (Symphyta) of Britain and Ireland

Wikidata ☰ Q5092523 entry