Thoughts on whether it's ever appropriate to remove sawflies? They can completely defoliate columbine and do a lot of damage to hibiscus as well. (I think they do not discriminate natives vs non-natives in these two plant categories).
Personally I never remove sawfly larvae or caterpillars from plants in my gardens - having them there is a big part of why I planted the garden. If it is a larva of a known invasive species I will remove them. Most plants can handle getting defoliated once during the growing season. I've seen milkweeds eaten to sticks just about every year by monarch caterpillars and they keep coming back.
Sawfly larvae are decimating my apricot mallow. I've had to remove a few dozen stems that have turned brown and died. The sawfly larvae are working their way through the remaining stems. They are very small, you can't really see them without a hand lens or camera magnification. They're on the underside of the leaves and emerge from small web nests in between the leaf veins. I've only got a few plant stems left. How can I save my plant from these voracious little beasties?
Not a plant I am familiar with as it is a southwestern species, but if it is an established perennial it will likely weather the insect damage. We often have milkweed eaten to nothing but stems and they come back the next year.
@@BackyardEcology sorry, that was my poor attempt at humor. I just thought Sawfly sounded like a good metal band name. I sadly never saw Gwar, although Garth played some shows with the Dave Brockie Experience back in the day!
