red pine being attacked

[Glenn]

Five years ago I planted approximately 1000 red pine in two small areas on the same property about 1 km apart.  It was an earth day project for my son and I.  I didn't really pay much attention to them until a couple of weeks ago when i noticed the needles were being stripped on many of them at both locations.    Yesterday evening we found what i think are pine sawfly caterpillars bunched up in the new growth.  So we cut off the infested branches and burnt them in a barrel.  I thought we had gotten them all but tonight i found several smaller bunches.  I'll wait for a rain day and get them with a torch.  Is there a better way to get rid of them.  They were light green and about 1-2" long - no tent.

[Clark]

One of the great things about red pine is that it doesn't suffer from many diseases or pests.  This leads to the unfortunate situation that most managers don't know what is happening to their red pine when something does attack it. In all likelihood they have never seen this problem before so knowing the solution becomes highly unlikely.

All of that to say it's no surprise to me that nobody has answered you (I avoided this topic hoping someone with experience would be able to help you). I'm sure you've read up on the sawfly:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/pine_sawfly/pinesawfly.htm

I would contact local government foresters to see if they are having the same problem and what can be done about it. I have never knowingly seen sawfly damage but would be interested to know what you find out.

Clark

[Glenn]

I worked in forestry for about twenty years, mostly in Algonquin Park but its been awhile and i can't remember any sawfly outbreaks.  There was a bad outbreak of some sort affecting jack pine near Lake Traverse for a few years but i can't remember the details.  Hopefully getting rid of the bugs will solve the problem.

The pics in the article are identical to whats going on with my red pine !!

Thanks

[thecfarm]

That is too bad. Good luck with the bugs.

[SwampDonkey]

Never see much trouble in red pine here either. There are several old fields around here planted to red pine, they all look pretty much fine. Some should have been thinned out to clean out aspen and birch, but no bug troubles to speak about. I'm wondering if the sawfly is just eating needles or if the ealier instar stages get the buds to?

[BigJim2185]

If it gets beyond what you can handle by hand or with a torch, I think dormant oil...or I guess now it's being called horticultural oil...sprays are effective against pine sawfly, especially the larvae.  Not sure if it would make sense financially. 

[Glenn]

Thanks guys.
Swamp donkey - its just the caterpillar stage eating the needles from what i've seen.
Dormant oil may work but i like seeing the caterpillars fry !!

In my past i oversaw the planting of literally thousands of red pines in cutover areas and gravel pits in Algonquin Park and never heard of something like this.