''Neodiprion lecontei'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sawfly Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in 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 plant ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Diprionidae The Diprionidae are a small family of conifer-feeding sawflies (thus the common name conifer sawflies, though other Symphyta Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bee ...

native to eastern North America, commonly known as the red-headed pine sawfly or Leconte's sawfly. The larvae feed on the foliage of many species of native and imported pines. This species was named after

John Lawrence LeConte John Lawrence LeConte MD (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomology, entomologist, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxon, taxa known in the United States during his lifetime,

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

of the 19th century.

Taxonomy

It forms part of the ''N. lecontei'' species group, which consists of a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of about twenty closely related species which have been intensively studied. The

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

has been sequenced and consists of 330 MB arranged on seven

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

Description

The adult ''N. lecontei'' has membranous wings and a broad waist and is between long, with the males being somewhat smaller than the females. Males have feathery antennae while females have serrated ones with nineteen segments. Males are entirely black and are more slender than the robust females, which have reddish-brown heads and thorax, and mainly black abdomens, sometimes with white on the sides. The larvae resemble the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

ns; young larvae are whitish with brown heads while older larvae are yellowish-green with up to eight longitudinal rows of black spots, and brown heads. They have three pairs of legs at the front and six to seven pairs of prolegs at the rear.

Distribution

''Neodiprion lecontei'' is native to eastern North America. Its range extends from southeastern Canada westwards to the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and southwards to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Host range

The larvae feed on many members of the pine family. In the northern part of its range, it favours hard or yellow pines such as ''

Pinus banksiana Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana''), also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine. Distribution and habitat Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape ...

'' and ''

Pinus resinosa ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to Eastern North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and ...

''. Further south, it prefers ''

Pinus echinata The shortleaf pine or ''Pinus echinata'' is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the United States. The shortleaf pine is sometimes referred to as the "old field", "spruce", "rosemary", "yellow", "two-leaf" and "heart" pine. The common name " ...

'', ''

Pinus taeda ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

'', ''

Pinus elliottii ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after ...

'' and ''

Pinus palustris The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

''. Trees less than tall are frequently attacked, and plantations of pine established in the 1930s saw the insect reach pest proportions. Other host trees that the larvae will feed on include ''

Pinus virginiana ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. Th ...

'', ''

Pinus strobus ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, Canada, west ...

'' and ''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native plant, native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly s ...

'', and if nothing else is available, ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...

'', ''

Cedrus deodara ''Cedrus deodara'', the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of cedar native to the Himalayas. Description It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching tall, exceptionally with a trunk up to in diameter. It has a conic ...

'' and ''

Larix Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

'' spp.

Life cycle

The adult female sawfly cuts slits in pine needles with her

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

and deposits one egg in each slit. These appear pale and give the needle a banded appearance. The eggs hatch after about four weeks. The young larvae feed on the sides of the pine needle, leaving an uneaten central section which withers and dies, remaining on the tree giving a distinctive straw-like effect. Older larvae eat the whole needle before moving on to the next. The larvae are gregarious, and can strip whole branches and trees of needles. If the tree is completely defoliated, the larvae move as a group onto a neighboring tree, or may start chewing at the soft bark of twigs. When their development is finished, they drop to the ground and spin cocoons in the needle litter or underground. Here they overwinter as prepupae,

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

ting in the spring and biting their way out of one end of the cocoon to emerge as adults. Some individuals may not emerge as adults until the following year, or have an extended

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

. In the northern part of the range there is a single generation each year, but further south there may be two or three, sometimes overlapping, generations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3029190 Tenthredinoidea Pest insects Insects described in 1859 Hymenoptera of North America