In the spotlight
We are now in the season of vigilance-and often despair-for those who keep bushes of the tribe. More than 100 different genera of sawflies are known in Britain, comprising nearly 500 species. They're related to bees, wasps and ants, but lack the âwaist' characteristic in those creatures and are considered more primitive. Relatively few sawfly species are of concern to us, but gooseberry sawflies () certainly are; the larvae-shiny green, black-spotted grubs superficially resembling caterpillars-can sweep through currant and gooseberry bushes like a plague of locusts, defoliating a bush within a few days.
