Another what is it thread

These things are devouring the leaves on some small dogwoods that I planted last year.
Anyone know what they are. I've lived here for 35 years and never seen them before.
Small (1"-1 1/4"), very white with a yellow underbelly.


I sprayed with some eco friendly crap and they were dropping out of the trees like rain. Unfortunately 5 minutes later they were crawling right back up the trunks. The ingredients on the stuff I used read like something I would marinate a steak in. Rosemary oil, garlic oil, sesame oil etc. Next up BT! If that doesn't work Sevin.

 

I'm a big fan of permethrin.

 

BT works great on leaf eaters...if you can find it...I always had to order it at the start of the season. And of course you really need to try and get an ID on the critter. Inch worms were common back east always on my olives and roses...so they had a specific type available. Never heard of anything eating dogwoods...except Chandler and his backhoe. Out here was where I had an issue with my grapes...so I went and talked with a local vineyard.

 

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.e...12/sawfly.html

 

Can't tell from the pic, but what color is their head? And do they have a tiny black dots pattern on their back?

 

Take one to your local nursery, not the big box store, they will identify it!

 

Yep, get them ID'd at a nursery or county agricultural extension agent. Larval stages are sometimes hard to ID, but knowing what trees they were on will help them.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. They are indeed dogwood sawfly larvae. According to the guy at the garden store they are very common around here but I have never seen them before. In two days they pretty much stripped one dogwood and chewed up a couple of others.

Dr Earth stuff I tried first didn't work at all (I think they thought it was salad dressing), but Sevin seems to have done the trick. The guy at the garden center also said that BT is ineffective. He sold me an insecticide containing spinosad, whatever that is. Apparently that is the most effective.