Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Symphyta" - Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps » Xyelid Sawflies (Xyelidae)

Family Xyelidae - Xyelid Sawflies

Sawfly - Xyela - female Ψοκο λοκο - Xyela Xyelidae, head & antennae - Macroxyela ferruginea - female Xyela Unidentified larva - Megaxyela Xyela - male Larvae dropping down like rain! Bright yellow black spotted larvae on hickory leaf - Megaxyela
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon ("Symphyta" - Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps)
Family Xyelidae (Xyelid Sawflies)
Other Common Names
Pine Catkin Sawflies
Pronunciation
zy-EE-luh-dee
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Xyelidae Newman 1834(1)
Numbers
~30 spp. in 5 genera in our area(2)
Size
5-10 mm(2)
Identification
Characteristics(2):
antennae distinctive: antennomere 3 long, with slender, multi-segmented terminal filament, 11-20 segments total
abdomen broadly sessile at base, not constricted
female with protruding ovipositor
Habitat
associated with pines (or other trees), sometimes found on flowers; uncommonly seen
Food
Larvae feed chiefly on male pine cones, new pine shoots, new buds of deciduous trees (2); Xyela --staminate cones of pine, Pleroneura, Xylecia --buds and shoots of firs, other spp. --hickory and elm(3)
Remarks
A small relict family well represented in the fossil record since the Triassic
Internet References
ITP family page (information on identification, hosts, distribution, etc.)
Works Cited
1.A Dictionary of Entomology
George Gordh, David H. Headrick. 2003. CABI Publishing.
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn. 2004. Brooks Cole.
Contributed by tom murray on 21 May, 2005 - 8:28pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, v belov, KenW
Last updated 11 May, 2023 - 10:47am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo