AboutJim Hyland Expertise Registered Forester in the Southern US with 30 years experiance in managing pines. Expert in pine forest health from management to control of pests to ID of species.
Question I have read your solution to the saw fly issue and will take action. Is it possible that if i treat one of them that is pretty much all brown it might revive? I trimmed some of the branches and the wood is still green.
Answer Yes, They will feed on last year's needles, so will disfigure pines but most likely won't kill them. A pine has two sets of needles and as a new set comes on they drop the older set. Sawfies feed on the older set and the tree should put out a news et of needles.
Don't cut off infested branches, as the terminal bud will be removed and new growth will not appear on that branch. Pines should only be pruned by cutting back the new candle growth, which typically appears in June.
Usually only one generation occurs and the winter is spent as an egg inserted into slits along the edge of needles. The eggs hatched in April through mid-May and the larvae may feed until mid-June. The caterpillar-like larvae are grayish-green and have a light stripe down the back, a light stripe along each side followed by a dark green stripe. Full grown larvae are about one inch long. The larvae feed in groups or colonies, often with three or four feeding together on a single needle. Distributed larvae raise their heads and tails in a threatening manner. Mature larvae drop to the ground and spin tough, brown cocoons in the duff. A few larvae may pupate on the tree. The adults emerge in late August through September to mate and lay eggs. Each female lays six to eight eggs in a single needle and 10 to 12 needles are used. These eggs can be located after a hard frost turns the egg laying scar yellow.
