Pear Slugs, not Peach Slugs! 

It’s so tempting to go to town on the Pear tree to eliminate these little gummy bear thingys.

They’re Pear Slugs the larvae of a kind of Sawfly. Every year we get them and I’m yet to find anything that eats them in this form. Their Mums lay eggs underground near the base of the tree and they hatch and wander up the trunk to munch on my leaves. I’m wondering if I can identify a ground dwelling predator to knock them off before they climb.

Over the years, they’ve not done much damage and we always get more than enough Pears for us and our friends so I’m Not that fussed. Usually I sprinkle diatomaceous earth or wood ash over the tree which dries the out the Slugs or just irritates them, maybe makes them chafe in all the right places. Any dry powder will kill them through dehydration – even talcum powder or corn flour. Interestingly for such soft, gooey looking critters, they sit out in the full Summer Sun all day long.

The other thing to do is to band the trunk with some grease and stop them climbing in the first place but every year I forget.