Pine sawflies (Diprionidae)

Pine sawflies (Hymenoptera) are pests of coniferous trees, mostly pines.I studied the population dynamics of two species: the common pine sawfly (Diprion pini L.) and the European pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer Geoffr.). Most of my work was with D. pini. Excelent information on pine sawflies is available on the PHERODIP homepage. I have a number of publications on population dynamics, life tables, predators, parasitoids, modeling, and physiology of diapause of D. pini in Russia (see my list of publications). Please contact me if you need reprints of my papers. Most of them are in Russian, but several papers are in English.

Below find some photographs (click to see the full-size picture!) of several species of pine sawflies:

Larvae of Diprion pini live in colonies.
More larvae of Diprion pini. White spots on their bodies are eggs of tachinid parasitoids.
Parasitoid fly Diplostichus janithrix is waiting for a good moment to put an egg on a larva of Diprion pini.
Adult female of Diprion pini.
Adult male of Diprion pini has large antenna which are used for locating females that emit pheromones.
Larvae of Neodiprion sertifer are also gregarious.
Pine sawflies lay eggs inside pine needles. These are eggs of Neodiprion lecontei.
Sawflies larvae (eonymphs) spin cocoons either in the litter or attached to needles. These are cocoons of Neodiprion lecontei.
Larvae of Neodiprion lecontei.

Alexei Sharov 1/10/97