Dogwood Sawfly Larvae (Macremphytus testaceus)

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Photo by Christine Y.

Published on Project Noah

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41.5428, -73.2195

Field Notes

Description:

Sawfly larvae may look like caterpillars, but they are actually wasps. Macremphytus species, in particular, are an interesting genus of sawfly because the second larval instar is covered in a white waxy covering, while the last larval instar is yellow and black. The caterpillar-like larvae feed on the leaves of dogwood trees and shrubs (Cornus sp.). The larvae can cause considerable defoliation since often they feed in groups, but they don't usually kill the plants.

Habitat:

I spotted hundreds of these larvae on shrubs (I assume Cornus sp.) along a nature trail. The shrubs were 90% defoliated.

Notes:

Sawflies get their common name from the saw-like appearance of their ovipositor, which females use to cut slits in stems and leaves in order to lay their eggs.

Reference Links:

Species Macremphytus testaceus - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (7)

Christine Y.

Good point Machi. They definitely weren't J-ing like a caterpillar would. So, I looked it up, and read that dogwood sawfly larvae curl up on the underside of leaves to rest.

Machi

I don't know much about sawflies, but usually when caterpillars are ready to pupate they don't curl up in a spiral, more like head to toe and then dangle.

Christine Y.

Thanks Machi. This was the first time I'd seen them curled up like that as well, and assume it was because they were getting ready to molt or pupate? There were so many though - nearly every leaf that had not been eaten was covered on the underside with curled up larvae. Unfortunately, my zoomed out shots were horribly blurry because I had a bunch of larvae crawling all over me at the time that I took the shots and couldn't hold the camera steady!

Machi

Great shots! I have never seen sawflies all curled up together like that

maplemoth662

Your welcome, Christine....

Christine Y.

Thanks maplemoth. There were so many of them that they were dropping on my head and crawling up my legs while I was trying to take these pictures :P

maplemoth662

Beautiful photos....beautiful Sawfly larvae....