Sawflies lay eggs in plant stems. Some spring wheat fields were still in the seedling stage, and probably will escape attack. The sawfly emergence and egg laying period will last several weeks, and is extended by cool. Sawfly development also can be determined by examining the overwintering sites in the wheat stubs. The larvae, or worms, go through a brief pupal stage during transformation into wasps.
Young pupae are white, but are yellow and black colors when wasps are ready to emerge.
Although Joe Caprio has retired, he is remembered when the lilacs bloom. The WSS were just starting to fly last week, and you should begin to see more activity in the next week or two. Winter wheat was in the boot stage in the site sampled with springwheat at 2 leaf stage. Winter wheat was beginning to elongate. On the west side of the Triangle around Dutton, the sawflies were in the dark eye stage with field conditions very wet.