The Diprionidae are a small family of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

-feeding

sawflies Sawflies are the insects of the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay ...

(thus the common name conifer sawflies, though other

Symphyta Sawflies are the insects of the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay ...

also feed on conifers) restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, with some 140 species in 13 genera. Larvae are often gregarious, and sometimes there can be major outbreaks, thus these sawflies can be major forest pests at times. These sawflies have the ability to compromise the health and ecological balance of forests. When the temperatures begin to rise, the sawflies become strengthened pests to these conifers. In doing so, they cause damage to a certain extent. The family has distinctive antennae with about 20

flagellomere Antennae ( antenna), sometimes referred to as "feelers", are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one o ...

s. Males have pectinate antennae and females have serrate antennae. NSertiferInfest

Genera

These 13 genera belong to the family Diprionidae: * '' Augomonoctenus'' Rohwer, 1918 * '' Diprion'' Schrank, 1802 * '' Gilpinia'' Benson, 1939 * '' Macrodiprion'' Enslin, 1914 * '' Microdiprion'' Enslin, 1914 * ''

Monoctenus ''Monoctenus'' is a genus of sawflies belonging to the family Diprionidae. The species of this genus are found in Europe and Northern America. Species: * '' Monoctenus juniperi'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Monoctenus obscuratus'' (Hartig, 1837) R ...

'' Dahlbom, 1835 * ''

Neodiprion ''Neodiprion'' is a genus of sawflies in the family Diprionidae. Species * '' Neodiprion abbotii'' * '' Neodiprion abietis'' (Harris) * '' Neodiprion autumnalis'' * '' Neodiprion burkei'' Middleton * '' Neodiprion compar'' * '' Neodiprion d ...

'' Rohwer, 1918 * '' Nesodiprion'' Rohwer, 1910 * '' Prionomeion'' Benson, 1939 * '' Rhipidoctenus'' Benson, 1954 * '' Zadiprion'' Rohwer, 1918 * † '' Eodiprion'' Schedl, 2007 * † '' Paleomonoctenus'' Nel, 2004

References

External links

''Neodiprion'' spp.
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site Tenthredinoidea Sawfly families {{Sawfly-stub