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Sawfly Larvae

Macremphytus sp.

Photo by Christine Y.
Published on Project Noah
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41.557, -73.2114

Field Notes

Description:

Their dorsal side was shiny indigo, and their ventral side was yellow-orange. Some of the larvae were crawling around, while others were curled up, and one had turned white and was curled up on the underside of a leaf.

Habitat:

There were several of these colorful larvae on Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album) next to a pond in a deciduous forest.

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:

Genus Macremphytus - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
Christine Y.
I received a genus level ID of Macremphytus from a bug ID group on Facebook, so I'm updating the spotting to reflect that change.
Christine Y.
Thanks so much Mark and flowntheloop for your help. And, thanks for the link Mark. I found a couple images online as well, but also with no ID. Frustrating. So, I've posted these pics to bugguide and facebook, so maybe someone will know what it is. Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.
flowntheloop
Christine, these look like a type of sawfly larvae. Very similar to the Dogwood sawfly, but I'm not sure exactly.
Mark Ridgway
Hmm.. still can't track it down. Darrensbugs seems to have it in Iowa but alas no ID http://www.darrensbugs.com/Caterpillars-and-Larvae/i-5pC93kn/A
Christine Y.
I just got an ID for the plant - it's Chinopodium album (Lamb's Quarters).
Christine Y.
Unfortunately, I don't know what the plant was, but I added a 6th picture to this spotting, which is zoomed out to include more details of the plant. I'll see if I can get an ID for it.
Mark Ridgway
Definitely symphyta but which one. Can you identify the plant?

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PublishedOctober 7, 2017

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