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Larch Sawfly
Pristiphora erichsonii
Pristiphora erichsonii, the larch sawfly, is a species of sawfly. The adult sawfly resembles a black wasp, is about ½ inch in length with a thick waist and has brown to orangish markings on the abdomen. Larvae have black heads, gray-green bodies with white undersides, and are about 15–18 mm long when full grown. Larvae occur in groups and characteristically curl their bodies upward in a "J" shape when disturbed.
In the spring when larch trees are leafed out and the new growth is expanding, the female sawfly can be seen depositing eggs in new shoots near the branch tips.
From the article Pristiphora erichsonii on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
What it does
Winter is spent in the soil as a prepupa. Adults emerge in late spring and females lay eggs in elongating shoots. Larvae feed on needles for 3–4 weeks, generally in late June and early July. However, emergence can be delayed for some individuals larva can be present throughout the summer.
Wikipedia: “Life cycle”
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Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Pristiphora erichsonii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 454773.