Wheat Stem Sawfly Adults Observed in Northwestern South Dakota

A wheat stem sawfly with long antennae, smoky wings, and black and yellow coloration.
Figure 1. A male wheat stem sawfly adult with smoky brown wings and a long, slender black and yellow body. Courtesy: Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org

Written collaboratively by Adam Varenhorst, Philip Rozeboom, Patrick Wagner, and Brad McManus.

Originally Submitted: June 26, 2023

Wheat stem sawfly adults have been captured in northwestern South Dakota (Figure 1). A statewide survey for wheat stem sawfly activity for 2023 was funded by South Dakota Wheat.

Although management of the adults is not recommended, the observation of the wheat stem sawfly is used to determine areas where solid stem wheat varieties should be considered. For more information on wheat stem sawflies, please view our article, Wheat Stem Sawfly: An Overview.

Related Topics

Wheat Insects

Related Content

Green wheat leaves with yellow streaks throughout.

Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Complex: Breaking the Green Bridge

As wheat harvest proceeds, it won’t be long until winter wheat planting is underway in South Dakota. To effectively reduce wheat streak mosaic virus, it is important to manage the green bridge effect to slow spread of disease in newly emerging wheat fields.

Wheat plants infected with wheat streak mosaic virus.

Volunteer Wheat and Kochia Management With Herbicides Will Likely Require Two Passes

Wheat curl mites, which carry wheat streak mosaic virus, use volunteer wheat and grass weeds as secondary hosts to infest recently planted winter wheat crops. Therefore, effective management of these plants before winter wheat planting is critical.

Multiple grasshoppers feeding on a corn ear.

Grasshopper Populations Continue to Cause Issues in South Dakota

Recent reports of crop loss along field edges indicate that grasshopper populations in some areas of South Dakota are well above threshold. Unfortunately, crops are often the target of these moving populations.