any insect of the families Tenthredinidae (typical sawflies), Pamphiliidae (web-spinning and leaf-rolling sawflies), and Cephidae (stem sawflies) of the suborder Symphyta of the order Hymenoptera. Of the more than 5,000 species, approximately 1,500 are found in the USSR, predominantly in the forest zone. The larvae and the majority of adults are herbivorous; some adult sawflies are predators.
Female sawflies usually deposit the eggs singly in the soft tissues of plants, in which they have made a slit with their serrate ovipositors. Some Pamphiliidae deposit their eggs in groups on the needles of conifers. The larvae of Tenthredinidae live on the ground. They superficially resemble the caterpillars of butterflies but have a greater number of prolegs (six to eight pairs). The larvae of Pamphiliidae live in groups, each of which collectively builds a protective silk nest. They have no abdominal prolegs, but the thoracic legs are well developed. Cephidae develop hidden in the stems of cereals or in the young shoots of trees and shrubs. The larvae are colorless and have underdeveloped thoracic legs. Most species of sawflies pupate in the soil.
All sawflies damage plants. The most destructive are the wheat stem sawfly (Cephus,) which damages cereals; Acantholyda stellata, A. erythrocephala, and Diprion pini, which damage the pine tree; and Calima limacina and Pterodinea ribesii, which damage fruit and berry crops.
G. M. DLUSSKII