Some years back I came across a bunch of tiny grey caterpillars on what was left of my Solomon’s Seal plants… they stripped every bit of green on every leaf. I discovered that these were Solomon’s Seal Sawfly larvae.
Solomon’s Seal Polygonatum multiflorum
(photo wikimedia)
Today Maggie called me to look at a tiny orangey fly on the fly-screen to our back door.
Rose Sawfly Arge ochropus
On Maggie’s hand – around 0.75cm long
Posting photos on the diptera site someone said it was a sawfly and some more detailed search reveals that they are rose specialists. I can’t say that I have noticed their work on the roses. The only damage there are the neatly chewed leaves left be a leaf-cutter bee.
I’ve been taking a closer look at the ‘common greenbottles’ in my garden. I’m pretty sure they are of two different species, although they share that common name and are the most common and the second most common species.
Lucilia sericata above & Lucilia caesar below
