Superfamily TENTHREDINOIDEA 29 



Family DIPRIONIDAE 



A small family found in the coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere with about 91 

 world species in 11 genera. Though more common in the cool northern regions, representatives 

 are found as far south as north Africa, Pakistan, north India, Thailand, El Salvador, and Cuba. 

 Hosts are restricted to conifers; consequently, they are commonly called conifer sawflies. Lar- 

 vae defoliate the host, and sporadic outbreaks may occur in forest stands resulting in loss of 

 growth and sometimes tree mortality. Many are also a nuisance in plantations, nurseries, and or- 

 namental plantings. All larvae feed on the needles except for those of Augomonoctenus 

 libocedrii Rohwer which feeds in the developing cones of incense cedar. In addition to the 

 foliage, some may also feed on the tender bark of new twigs. Most larvae are gregarious at first 

 but later disperse on the tree in search of new food. Overwintering is either as an egg in the 

 needles or as a prepupa in a cocoon in the forest litter. Adults are short-Hved and are most easily 

 obtained by rearing. Depending on the species and sometimes the latitude, there may be from 

 one to five generations a year; however, sometimes it takes more than one year to complete a 

 life cycle. Diapause is common in many species. 



Because this is an economically important group, literature references are numerous. The 

 literature cited here for many species is not complete and would take many more pages. Some 

 early literature, expecially prior to 1943, is not reliable because the taxonomy has changed to 

 such an extent that it is impossible to tell to which species the articles refer. The taxonomy of 

 some groups, Neodiprion in particular, is still flexuous. 



Taxonomy: Benson, 1939. Bui. Ent. Res. 30: 339-342 (genera of world). —Benson, 1945. Bui. 

 Ent. Res. 36: 163-164 (world classification). — Gussakovskii, 1947. Faune de L'URSS, Ins. 

 Hym., v. 2, 234 pp. (Palaearctic species). —Benson, 1954. Roy. Ent. Soc. London, Proc, Ser. 

 B: Taxonomy 23: 115-118 (world genera of Monocteninae). —Wong, 1951. Ont. Ent. Soc, 

 Ann. Rpt. 82, pp. 63, 66 (cocoons). -Smith, 1974. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 76: 409-418 (key to 

 N. Amer. genera; list world spp.). 



Biology: Craighead, 1950. U. S. Dept. Agr., Misc. Pub. 657, pp. 542-591 (eastern forests). 

 — Raizenne, 1957. Canad. Dept. Agr., Pub. 1009, pp. 11-24 (sawflies of s. Ont. and their 

 parasites). —Bird, 1955. Canad. Ent. 87: 124-127 (virus diseases). — Atwood, 1961. Ont. 

 Ent. Soc, Proc. 1960, 91: 205-215 (current status in Ont.). — Coppel and Benjamin, 1965. 

 Ann. Rev. Ent. 10: 69-96 (binomics of Nearctic pine-feeding diprionids). — Ryvkin, 1969. 

 Beitr. Ent. 19: 595-605 (complexes of natural enemies). — Philogene, 1971. Ent. Soc. 

 Quebec, Ann. 16: 112-119 (diapause). —Baker, 1972. U. S. Dept. Agr., Misc. Pub. 1175, pp. 

 439-453 (eastern forests). — Knerer and Atwood, 1973. Science 179: 1090-1099 

 (polymorphism and speciation). 



Subfamily MONOCTENINAE 



Larvae of this subfamily feed on Cupressaceae. 



Genus MONOCTENUS Dahlbom 



Monoctenus Dahlbom, 1835. Conspectus Tenthred., Siricid., Oryssin. Scand., p. 7. 

 Type-species: Tenthredo juniperi Linnaeus. Monotypic. 



A small holarctic genus with about 10 species. The genus also extends into Mexico. 



fulvus (Norton). Ont., Ill, Kans., Okla., Tex. Host: Junipenis virginiana. 

 Lophynis fnlvus Norton, 1872. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 4: 86. 9 . 

 Lopkynis {Monoctenus) juniperi Marlatt, 1888. Kans. Acad. Sci., Trans. 10: 82. 9 , d . 



Preocc. by Linnaeus, 1758. 

 Monoctenus unicolor Marlatt, 1890. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 2: 125. N. name for juniperi 



Marlatt. 



Biology: Marlatt, 1888. Kans. Acad. Sci., Trans. 10: 80-82. —Smith, 1943. Kans. State Bd. 

 Agr., Rpt. 62: 385. 



melliceps (Cresson). Mass., Ont. 



Lophynis melliceps Cresson, 1880. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 8: 26. 9 . 



