258 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 332 



ABBOTT'S PINE SAWFLY 

 {Lophyrus abbotti Leach) 



Possibly more than one species of sawfly occurs in the State 

 as a pest of pine, but Abbott's pine sawfly is the only one the writer 

 has been able to breed out and determine. 



Description. — The larva of this insect when mature is from 

 three-fourths to one inch in length. The general body color is 

 yellowish-white with four rows of almost rectangular black spots 

 extending in lines lengthwise of it. The head also is black. (See 

 Plate XXXIX, Fig. 2.) 



Pupation occurs in a rigid, tough, yellowish-white, silken cocoon 

 in the trash at the surface of the soil. The pupa measures about 

 two-fifths of an inch in length. 



The adult is described by Felt as follows: "The male has a 

 wing spread of about one-half of an inch and the female two-thirds 

 of an inch. The body of the male is black, exposing the yellowish 

 underside and tip of the abdomen. The female is honey-yellow, 

 with head and thorax a little darker, the thorax with the abdomen 

 being slightly marked with black. The wings are transparent with 

 black veins." 



The tiny, white, ovoid egg is inserted in slits in the epidermis 

 of the pine needles. 



Life history and habits. — The winter is passed within the shel- 

 ter of the cocoon, and with the coming of summer the adults com- 

 mence to emerge. This period of emergence extends over several 

 weeks ; hence caterpillars of various sizes may be encountered dur- 

 ing the season, particularly since apparently there are two broods 

 per year in Ohio. The eggs are laid in the manner described pre- 

 viously. When disturbed the larvae elevate both ends of the body 

 in a threatening manner, but if the tree or branch is jarred with 

 some severity they fall to the ground. They feed gregariously and 

 when mature spin their cocoons in great numbers in the trash at 

 the base of the host. 



Nature of work. — ^When the insects are plentiful, some slight 

 harm is done the host by the process of oviposition in the leaves, 

 but the principal injury is the destruction of the foliage by the feed- 

 ing larvae. Since conifers show little tolerance to foliage losses, 

 severe and particularly repeated attacks work great harm to the 

 tree. Sometimes only branches are defoliated, while at other times 

 whole trees, as indicated by Plate XXXIX, Fig. 3, and occasionally 

 entire areas, as reported from New Jersey and elsewhere. 



Food plants. — In Ohio the writer has observed this species on 

 pitch pine, Pinus rigida, short leaf pine, P. echinata, and white pine, 



