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Photo#346248
Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus

Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus
Elk Rock State Park, Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa, USA
October 24, 2009
Size: ~3 cm
Lone individual on stem of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) on sandstone cliff between oak forest and lake. Nearby plants include grapevines (Vitis) and autumn-olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). Very sluggish due to cold, rainy weather and exposed location on leafless, autumnal vegetation. Color pattern is yellowish on dorsal side grading to orangish on ventral side; four lengthwise columns of black dots. (Late afternoon sunlight filtering through the plastic container used to hold the specimen for photography imparts a slightly orange cast onto the whole specimen.)

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Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus Common Sawfly - Macremphytus testaceus

Moved

Found it!
In browsing through the sawfly galleries, I found images of what appears to be this species, for example:
The guide page for the genus Macremphytus indicates that larvae burrow into wood in the fall to pupate and overwinter. Thus I suspect that my specimen had fallen onto the cliff from the oak forest above.

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