Gooseberry and Currant Sawflies

insects of the family Tenthredinidae, order Hymenoptera; dangerous pests of the gooseberry and currants. The most frequent pests of the gooseberry and red currant are the common gooseberry sawfly (Pteronidea ribesii) and the currant sawfly (Pristiphora pallipes); black currant pests are Eriocampa dorpatica, the yellow blackcurrant sawfly (Nematus olfasciens), the currant sawfly (Nematus beibiekoi), and the black-currant fruit sawfly (Pachynematus pumilio). They are most harmful in the forest zone of the USSR.

Adult insects are black or yellow and black in color, 4–8 mm long. The wings are membranous, transparent, with a clear eyelet on the anterior edge and abundant veining. The larvae are grayish green with black spots or all green; they have 20 legs. They are one to three generations per year. The insects begin their flight at the beginning of flowering of fodder plants, and more rarely, with the formation of the fruits. Some species re-produce parthenogenetically. The eggs are deposited along the veins of a leaf on the underside or in the fleshy tissue of the leaf. The larvae eat away the leaves from the edges or gnaw out holes. Damaged bushes yield less fruit. The larvae hibernate in the soil in compact cocoons.

Control measures include treating gooseberry and currant bushes with insecticides when the pests appear and digging over the soil under the bushes in early spring or late fall.