Zadiprion

Taxonomy

Family: Diprionidae
Family common name: coniferconifer:
a usually evergreen tree characterized by reproductive cones; e.g., pine, fir, spruce, larch, etc.
sawflies
Subfamily: Diprioninae
Genus: Zadiprion Rohwer, 1918
Subgenera: none

Background

The Diprionidae are known as the coniferconifer:
a usually evergreen tree characterized by reproductive cones; e.g., pine, fir, spruce, larch, etc.
sawflies, though they are not the only family to use coniferconifer:
a usually evergreen tree characterized by reproductive cones; e.g., pine, fir, spruce, larch, etc.
trees as hosts (others include Siricidae, Pamphiliidae, Xyelidae, and some Tenthredinidae). Many are destructive pests as larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
, and their biology has been relatively well-studied. Diprionids have stout bodies and distinctive antennal characteristics that make adults easy to recognize (Furniss and Carolin 1977Furniss and Carolin 1977:
Furniss RL and Carolin VM. 1977. Western forest insects. United States Deptartment of Agriculture Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 1339: 1-655.).

Zadiprion is a fairly uncommon genus that occurs in the western United States and Mexico. Adults are large and stout, usually larger than Neodiprion in their overlapping range. Some species are defoliators of pine trees that can have a significant economic impact (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261.).

Diversity

There are only five described species worldwide, all restricted to the North America (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261., Taeger et al. 2010Taeger et al. 2010:
Taeger A, Blank SM, and Liston AD. 2010. World Catalog of Symphyta (Hymenoptera). Zootaxa 2580: 1-1064.).

A key to world species of Zadiprion is included in Smith et al. 2012Smith et al. 2012:
Smith DR, Saacute;nchez-Martiacute;nez G, and Ojeda-Aguilera A. 2012. A new species of Zadiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) on Pinus durangensis from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a review of other species of the genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114 (2): 224-237..

Diagnostic characteristics

• pronotum pronotum:
  the anterodorsal part of the thorax, often situated posterior to the head
  strongly constricted medially, as seen from above (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• head closely appressed to thoraxthorax:
  the second and middle segment of the body, between the head and abdomen
  , no distinct “neck” (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• antennae serrateserrate:
  toothed; often describing the ovipositor saw or antennae
  in females, pectinatepectinate:
  comb-like in form
  in males (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• ocelli arranged in almost a straight line as seen from above (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• vein vein:
  a tube-like, often darkened, structure on the wings
  1A and 2A of fore wingfore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  connected by a crossveincrossvein:
  short section of wing vein that connects two larger veins
  , not fused (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• antennae 22–26 segmented (Smith et al. 2012Smith et al. 2012:
  Smith DR, Saacute;nchez-Martiacute;nez G, and Ojeda-Aguilera A. 2012. A new species of Zadiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) on Pinus durangensis from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a review of other species of the genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114 (2): 224-237.)
• mesonotum mesonotum:
  the second segment of the dorsum of the thorax
  densely punctured and dull, not shining (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
  Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261.)
• antennae bipectinatebipectinate:
  describing pectinate antennae of which each segment has two projections, one on either side
  , except for the apicalapical:
  towards the apex; farthest away from the body
  4–5 segments, which only have one comb-like projection (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
  Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261.)

May be confused with

Diprionidae are most easily recognized by the distinctive antennaeantenna:
the sensory organ emerging from the front of the head, usually between the compound eyes and above the clypeus; includes the flagellum, scape and pedicel
of both sexes and are characterized by small, stout bodies. Zadiprion can be separated from other genera in the family by the unique partially bipectinatebipectinate:
describing pectinate antennae of which each segment has two projections, one on either side
antennaeantenna:
the sensory organ emerging from the front of the head, usually between the compound eyes and above the clypeus; includes the flagellum, scape and pedicel
and the tarsal pulvillipulvillus:
soft pads used for surface adhesion, located in sawflies on the first 4 segments of the tarsus
(Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication., Smith et al. 2012Smith et al. 2012:
Smith DR, Saacute;nchez-Martiacute;nez G, and Ojeda-Aguilera A. 2012. A new species of Zadiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) on Pinus durangensis from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a review of other species of the genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114 (2): 224-237.).

Exotic pest species of concern

none

Host associations

Larvae in North America feed on several species of pine, including Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine), P. monophylla (single-leaf pinyon), P. edulis (Colorado pinyon), P. pseudostrobus (smooth-bark Mexican pine), P. chiapensis (Chiapas pine), P. montezumae (Montezuma pine), P. devoniana, P. maximinoi (thin-leaf pine), P. oocarpa (egg-cone pine), P. leiophylla (Chihuahua pine), P. cembroides (Mexican pinyon), P. ayacahuite (Mexican white pine), P. pringlei (Pringle’s pine), P. durangensis (Durango pine), P. arizonica (Arizona pine), P. herrere (Herrera’s pine), and P. hartwegii (Hartweg’s pine) (Smith 1971bSmith 1971b:
Smith DR. 1971b. The genus Zadiprion Rohwer (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae). Proceedngs of the Entomological Society of Washington 73 (2): 187-197., Smith 1988Smith 1988:
Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261., Smith et al. 2012Smith et al. 2012:
Smith DR, Saacute;nchez-Martiacute;nez G, and Ojeda-Aguilera A. 2012. A new species of Zadiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) on Pinus durangensis from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a review of other species of the genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114 (2): 224-237.).

Life history

Unlike the majority of sawflies, some species of Zadiprion do not undergo diapausediapause:
a non-active period of no development; sawflies often enter diapause as a prepupa or pupa to overwinter
in winter and instead actively feed as larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
from September to May when temperatures are above freezing. When it is colder, larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
huddle and temporarily cease feeding. The majority of feeding occurs in the spring. Mature larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
are large, up to 40 mm in length, and are varied in coloration. At the end of the larval stage in early summer, they fall to the ground to spin cocoons and pupate. This genus is generally univoltineunivoltine:
describing an insect with a life cycle of one generation per year
(Smith et al. 2012Smith et al. 2012:
Smith DR, Saacute;nchez-Martiacute;nez G, and Ojeda-Aguilera A. 2012. A new species of Zadiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) on Pinus durangensis from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a review of other species of the genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114 (2): 224-237.).

Zadiprion have been known to severely defoliatedefoliate:
to elimate a sizeable portion of the foliage of a tree, either by feeding on the leaves or otherwise causing a severe decreae in photosynthetic ability
trees. LarvaeLarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
feed on old growth needles, making them similar in habit to Neodiprion. However, fewer outbreaks are recorded for Zadiprion, and it generally has not been as damaging a pest as Neodiprion (Furniss and Carolin 1977Furniss and Carolin 1977:
Furniss RL and Carolin VM. 1977. Western forest insects. United States Deptartment of Agriculture Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 1339: 1-655.).

Distribution

World: Zadiprion is a North American genus (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261., Taeger et al. 2010Taeger et al. 2010:
Taeger A, Blank SM, and Liston AD. 2010. World Catalog of Symphyta (Hymenoptera). Zootaxa 2580: 1-1064.)

North America: The range of Zadiprion extends from the western United States east to South Dakota, and through Mexico as far south as Guatemala (Smith 1988Smith 1988:
Smith DR. 1988. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: introduction, Xyelidae, Pamphiliidae, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Xiphydriidae, Siricidae, Orussidae, Cephidae. Systematic Entomology 13: 205-261.).

Map data from: GBIF.org (26 June 2019) GBIF Occurrence Download Zadiprion

Details about data used for maps can be found here.