I became so incredibly excited the other day when God directed me to a couple of pear/cherry slugs in my back yard! I had never seen one in person before this, but had always wanted to!
Despite being called “slugs”, these are actually a species of sawfly larvae (Caliroa cerasi). These larvae don’t consume leaves in the typical manner that most caterpillars and other sawfly larvae do - instead, they “skeletonize” the leaves, as can be seen in the video. They look like tiny little poops on the leaves, and their slimy body is able to completely cover their legs and head. They’re so cute! But why are they out so late in the year? It’s because they fall to the ground and pupate over the winter before emerging as adult sawflies in the spring!
For more videos like this, follow me on IG at @garbage.nobility and/or check my personal arthropod related tag #garbagearthropodsetc to see all of my arthropod related posts in one place.
- Lisa Marie Carrick
