The Diprionidae are a small family of
conifer
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ex ...
-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 la ...
(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 flagellomeres. Males have pectinate antennae and females have serrate antennae.]
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'' Dahlbom, 1835
* '' Neodiprion'' 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