Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
933
Family
ARGIDAE
Slow-moving, heavily built, moderate-sized sawflies
with a short ovipositor; antennae divided into a scape, a
pedicel and a fused flagellar segment, the last-
mentioned sometimes distinctly bifid like a tuning fork.
Arge berberidis
Schrank (
933
)
Barberry sawfly
A well-known pest of barberry (
Berberis
). Infestations
also occur on
Mahonia
. Widely distributed in central
and southern Europe; also now present in various parts
of northern Europe, including southern England.
933
Larva of barberry sawfly (
Arge berberidis
).
DESCRIPTION
Adult female:
7-10 mm long; dark metallic blue, with
smoky wings.
Larva:
up to 18 mm long, body relatively
plump and whitish, marked with yellow patches and
numerous black verrucae; head and anal plate black.
934
LIFE HISTORY
There are typically two or more generations annually,
with adult females active from May onwards. Pupation
occurs in silken cocoons spun on the host plant or in the
ground beneath infested bushes.
DAMAGE
Larvae often cause extensive defoliation;
Berberis
thunbergii
is particularly susceptible.
Arge ochropus
(Gmelin in Linnaeus) (
934-935
)
Large rose sawfly
A local and often destructive pest of rose (
Rosa
), the
larvae occurring on both wild and cultivated bushes.
Eurasiatic. Widely distributed in mainland Europe; in
Britain generally uncommon (cf.
Arge pagana
).
934
Larva of large rose sawfly (
Arge ochropus
).
935
DESCRIPTION
Adult:
7-10 mm long; head and thorax black but with
the pronotum and tegulae yellow; abdomen yellow; legs
yellow with the apices of the tibiae and tarsi black;
wings yellowish.
Larva:
up to 28 mm long; head black
or orange; body bluish green, marked with yellow along
the back; body covered with numerous black verrucae,
on most segments the latter usually forming one
relatively indistinct and two distinct transverse rows
(cf.
Arge pagana
); the last two segments bear only small
verrucae; anal plate black; five pairs of abdominal
prolegs (cf.
A. nigripes
).
935
Large rose sawfly (
Arge ochropus
) oviposition scar in
shoot of
Rosa
.
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