Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Family Argidae - Argid Sawflies

Sawfly Larva - Arge pectoralis Sawfly - Schizocerella pilicornis - female Arge humeralis Elm Argid Sawfly Larvae - Arge scapularis Red belly fly? - Arge humeralis Zynzus bicolor argid sawfly - Arge Male, Zynzus magnus?
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 Argidae (Argid Sawflies)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
revised in(1)
Numbers
~78 spp. in 9 genera and 3 subfamilies in our area(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)
Size
3.8 - 14.0 mm(1)(5)(6)
Identification
Stout bodied, with distinctive antennae: three-segmented, the third segment very long; males of Sterictiphorinae have the last antennal segment furcate in a U- or Y-shaped(1)
North American argid larvae may be separated from other families of sawfly larvae by the following combination of characters: divergent lobe next to the tarsal claw of each thoracic leg (lobe reduced in Atomacera) • one-segmented antenna which may be flat, rounded, or peglike • abdominal segments 1 to 9 each with 3, sometimes 2, annulets • tarsal claw present on each thoracic leg or at least on meso- & metathoracic legs(7)

Overview of subtaxa
Key to subfamilies and genera in Smith (1969).(1)

Arginae - cells 2R1 of forewing and R1 of hindwing closed apically by vein R1; male with flagellum unbranched
Atomacerinae - cells 2R1 of forewing (often) and always R1 of hindwing open apically; forewing with intercostal vein present; male with flagellum unbranched
Sterictiphorinae -cells 2R1 of forewing (often) and always R1 of hindwing open apically; forewing lacking intercostal vein; male with flagellum branched
Range
Worldwide, most diverse in the tropics
Food
The larvae feed mainly on foliage of various kinds of ferns, horsetails, gymnosperms and angiosperms, occasionally they feed on the pith of twigs or on catkins.
Print References
Descriptions & host associations of several common eastern species in (8)
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Key to genera of Nearctic Argidae (Hymenoptera) with revisions of the genera Atomacera Say and Sterictiphora Billberg
Smith D.R. 1969. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 95: 439-457.
2.Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico
Karl V. Krombein, Paul D. Hurd, Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press.
3.Nomina Insecta Nearctica
Poole, Robert W. Nearctica.com, Inc.
4.Systematics of two feeding morphs of Schizocerella pilicornis (Hymenoptera: Argidae) and recognition of two species
Hartsough C.D.B., Connor E.F., Smith D.R., Spicer G.S. 2007. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 100: 375-380.
5.Nearctic sawflies of the genera Neoptilia Ashmead, Schizocerella Forsius, Aprosthema Konow, and Sphacophilus Provancher...
Smith D.R. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 97: 537-594.
6.The sawfly genus Arge (Hymenoptera: Argidae) in the Western Hemisphere
Smith D.R. 1989. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 115: 83‒205.
7.North American sawfly larvae of the family Argidae (Hymenoptera)
Smith D.R. 1972. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 98: 163-184.
8.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
9.van Noort S. (2004-2015) WaspWeb: Wasps, bees and ants of Africa and Madagascar