unknown larvae - sawflies?? - Yponomeuta cagnagella

Moved

… Charley Eiseman, 7 July, 2014 - 5:31pm

Moved

… john and jane balaban, 7 July, 2014 - 4:16pm

Yponomeuta

John and Jane are on the right track. There aren't many things that do this. The tree looks bigger than the Euonymus that I see. My guess is that it is an apple tree, and that the bug is Yponomeuta malinellus. A good clear closeup of a single larva in dorsal view would help. These larvae have finished feeding and are ready to spin and pupate, meaning that it would be very easy to rear some of them to adult, simply by collecting a few of them into any enclosed container (put in a twig of any plant, with a few leaves on it, because the larvae like to use the leaves to spin "hammocks" in which they suspend the cocoons). Submitting a photo of the adult would help with the ID. Also the identity of the tree, if and when it regains any leaves, would help.

… Terry Harrison, 16 June, 2014 - 9:25am

Yponomeuta mystery

I've done a little research and found owner who called tree a "strawberry tree". A gift from the yard of her grandmother years ago. It is a tree, not a bush. Best I can come up with is Euonymus europaeus. (Maybe similar to strawberry bush - E. americanus - so they came up with that name.) It does have a Euonymus look about it. Larvae did try out a burning bush in the yard, but didn't seem to wreck much havoc there. Critters have mostly pupated in "hammocks" and I hope at least one I collected survives. The tree is refoliating.

… Deborah Lievens, 6 July, 2014 - 2:24pm

unk larvae

Thanks. Could have been an apple. I wonder though if it will be able to releaf this summer. I was planning to go back with my good lens today. Will definitely bring some home. There are more than enough to go around. Will the cocoons hatch this summer? How soon? I live a peripatetic lifestyle in the summer, but have been known to travel with Leps as well as our cat.

… Deborah Lievens, 16 June, 2014 - 10:25am

Adults

Yes, the adults will emerge straightaway, probably about a week and a half after they enclose themselves in their cocoons.

… Terry Harrison, 16 June, 2014 - 12:41pm

unk larvae

Adding a close-up. I'm wondering about Y. cagnatella. Charley Eiseman documented it in western MA and it turns out the adult spindle moth I tentatively IDed as Y. cagnatella in 2013 was from my location in Thornton.

… Deborah Lievens, 16 June, 2014 - 4:16pm

Host plant

The Y. cagnagella was on Euonymus, though, which doesn't seem to be the host of your larvae.

… Charley Eiseman, 16 June, 2014 - 7:04pm

Might it have been Euonymus

… john and jane balaban, 16 June, 2014 - 12:58am

unk larvae

I don't think so. I drive by it all the time and don't remember noticing one. While this is along a main road, it is adjacent to the White Mountains NF (NH) and, fortunately, the area has not been invaded too badly. That's grass and fern in the picture.

… Deborah Lievens, 16 June, 2014 - 7:44am

I suspect the tree is Euonymu

I suspect the tree is Euonymus europaeus It doesn't look much like the winged Euonymus even with leaves, and the Yponomeuta cagnagella cats are crazy about it. See also http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1553555

… Kyle Jones, 18 July, 2015 - 9:02am

I suspect the tree is Euonymus europaeus

I'd pretty much come around to that by the end of the summer when it leafed out again. Sadly, owners cut the tree down and mowed over all the seedlings. Guess they didn't want any chance of the webs again. It was interesting that the cats nibbled the E. alatus in the yard and devastated the europeaus.

… Deborah Lievens, 18 July, 2015 - 10:44am