Bottlebrush Saw Flies

These are not true Caterpillars, but are the larvae of a Sawfly (which is really a wasp!). When young, these larvae are gregarious sitting side by side as they skeletonise a host plant leaf. They feed on :

Other Saw Fly species have different foodplants.

The larvae of Pterygophorus cinctus have very strong jaws. One group we captured gnawed through a plastic container in which we had housed them, leaving a little pile of plastic powder by their exit hole. They grow to a length of about 4 cms.

They pupate in a naked pupa without any covering or cocoon in the leaf litter.

An adult wasp (it is misnamed as a ‘fly’) has pretty orange and black bands on its body. Its wingspan is about 2 cms. The species has been found in