Disease focus: apple sawfly

This month, your apple trees may come under fire from these small, winged insects. As the blossoms begin to open, they will lay their eggs at the base of the flowers in preparation to feed on the eventual fruitlets. The main symptom of an apple sawfly infestation is small holes all over fruit where the maggots have tunnelled their way in. Dark brown pellets may also be found at the entrances of these wounds, which is the excremental waste of the grubs.

Larvae can move across several fruits, which makes this pest particularly difficult to control. You may also notice that the affected yields will drop from the branches. Harvests that have suffered minor damage from this fly may stay on the tree but develop a misshapen form and ribbon-like scarring across the skin. Once these grubs have finished feeding, they will often bury themselves in the soil nearby and wait until next spring to re-emerge and continue their damaging habits.

CONTROL METHODS
Picking off damaged fruit from the tree may help to keep the maggots at bay, but if the issue is too severe, pesticides are available from online retailers. However, it’s important to bear in mind that this treatment should not be used during the flowering period to avoid harming bees and other incredibly important pollinators.

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