Sawfly ID - Xyela - BugGuide.Net

Hi Eric, Martin.......

Thanks for the compliments and the ID confirmation! There were a number of these on this small pine tree when I captured this image. They are not afraid of a camera, that's for sure!

… Scott Justis, 19 February, 2008 - 7:55pm

They lay their eggs in the ma

They lay their eggs in the male flowers of pine trees, and then they crawl out of the flowers just after a short time, before the male flowers start opening and they spend the rest of the year in the ground... Very short adult and larval life span... most of the time sitting under ground and waiting for the next spring.. one of the most primitive sawflies...

… Martin Hauser, 19 February, 2008 - 8:18pm

I had found

a tiny cocoon attached to the end of a pine needle which I thought could be one of these sawflies. Must be something else. Thanks for the additional info... interesting life cycle!

I will post an image of the cocoon in ID request soon.

… Scott Justis, 19 February, 2008 - 10:50pm

Very likely a parasite of the

Very likely a parasite of the Xyela! Some Tachinids and some parasitic wasps are making such cocoons... You should collect some and see what is coming out of them! Would be very interesting!

… Martin Hauser, 20 February, 2008 - 6:23am

Cocoon...

I did! The cocoon is in a glass container out in my shed. Hopefully it will emerge and I will get some images before I let it go. It is about 3mm in length.

… Scott Justis, 20 February, 2008 - 10:06am

It is genus Xyela, I ran the

It is genus Xyela, I ran the pic by Stephan Blank, and he should know this (after he wrote his PhD about this genus)...
Very nice pic indeed!

… Martin Hauser, 19 February, 2008 - 2:03pm

Awesome.

Outstanding image! I would concur with the ID to the level of family at least. Nice work.

… Eric R. Eaton, 19 February, 2008 - 12:53pm