Green Long-tailed Sawfly - Lophyrotoma interrupta
Family PERGIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Green Long-tailed Sawflies that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 20mm
- This sawfly is dark blue in colour with orange spots on thorax and blue coloured abdomen. Its head and long antenna are dark blue in colour. Its wings are dark blue as well. We found this sawfly active flying among young gum trees in Alexandra Hill in mid summer.
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- Larvae pictures were taken on mid summer Jan 2004 in Alexandra Hill and Dec 2008 in Karawatha Forest. We tried to raise them as raising the moth caterpillars a few times, but never success.
- Larvae feed on gum tree leaf, Eucalyptus and Angophora. When disturbed, they raise up their black needle like tail.
- They have six or more pairs of prolegs and a "tail" on the last segment. They do not aggregate in large group. They feed actively in small group during the day. They often move to the tip of the leaf and feed beside each others. When young, the larvae skeletonising the leaf surface. When grown up, the consuming all leaf tissue. They form cocoons and pupate in soil.
- Reference:
- 1. Pergidae of the World - An online catalogue of the sawfly family Pergidae (Symphyta), Zoologische Staatssammlung München, 2009.
- 2. Notes on the biology and behaviour of eucalypt-defoliating Sawflies (Hymenoptera: Pergidae) in Tasmania - HJ Elliott and R Bashford, Forestry Tasmania, 1995.
