1 66 Scco/ui Report on Rcoinvuic Zoology 



Tlie Tine Sawfly attacks chiefly the Scotch pine, but all kinds 

 of conifers are liable to its invasion. It prefers trees with a sunny 

 aspect, and hence it will be noticed in ijreatest 

 abundance at the borders of plantations or around 

 cle:uings. Trees from twenty to thirty years old 

 are most subject to the ravages of this pest, but 

 young trees may sometimes l>e seen covered with 

 the larv.e. The damage they do is soon noticeable 

 owing to the larvic feeding in companies. These 

 colonies number sometimes as many as a hundred 

 individuals. As the larvte grow they disperse, ho^\•- 

 ever. The damage is caused in several ways— lirst 

 by the larva' eating the needles ; this they do in 

 two ways, by eating notches out of the sides of tlie 

 needles and later by eating the whole needles down 

 to their base. There are two broods during the 

 year, the first of which devour the one-year-old 

 needles and the second those of the current year. There are also 

 records of the larv;e eating the young bark. I have recently found 

 L. rnfns attacking the spruce [vide Fig. 24). 



Fig. 24. — si-iuci 



ATTACKED BV 



LojiJnjnifi iiifiis. 



Life-history. 



The parent or adult Pine Sawfly (Fig. 26, a) is nearly three-fifth-; 

 of an inch across the wings in the male, and about Ibur-fifths in the 

 female. The male is l)lack, with the apex of the abdomen reddish, 

 AS'ith wliite spots on the underside of the first segment ; in the female 

 the l>ody is dull yellow, \vith three dark areas on the thorax, and the 

 miildle of the abdomen l»lack ; legs yellow, and the wings with dusky 

 borders, not so noticeable in the forewings of the male. The sexes 

 can most easily be told by the male having doubly pectinate 

 antenmo. 



The adults appear usually early in May; Schlich says " in April 

 and May," and again as a second brood in August. 



The female, who seldom flies owing to her heavy build, lays liov 

 oggs on the needles in slits cut by the savz-like processes common to 

 tlie Sawflies. As many as from ten to twenty may l)e placed in each 

 needle, but as a rule not more than six or seven. Xumbers of eggs 

 arc usually laid in close proximity, each one being covered over with 

 a gummy or resinous secretion, and so protected from various 

 enemies. This resinous material is scraped from the leaves, It is 



