Endelomyia aethiops (Fabricius, 1781),
Family: Tenthredinidae.
Commonly known as the Rose slug sawfly.
Adults emerge in early springtime, one generation a year.
A common worldwide species, where the larvae are a constant pest to roses, by skeletonising the leaves. They do this, by chewing entirely through the foliage, leaving the structured veins in the leaf; making the foliage unsightly. This action does not threaten the survival of a healthy plant, damage is noticed from late spring, through to early summertime. As they have only one generation a year this is not considered to be a major pest to roses.
The larvae look like caterpillars, although they are more closely related to bees and wasps. Larva are yellow-green in body, which is semi-transparent, with a light tan coloured head. When the larvae reach a length of approximately 13mm, they will enter the surrounding ground late summer to overwinter. Here they will pupate the following spring, to emerge as an adult.
The female adults will fly to leaves to lay her eggs, she uses her ovipositor which has teeth lined similar to the blade of a saw, hence the name “Sawfly”
Natural enemies, help to keep the sawfly population in check. Birds, parasitic wasps and other predatory insects such as beetles, feed on the larvae.