Macrophya

Taxonomy

Family: Tenthredinidae
Family common name: common sawflies
Subfamily: Tenthredininae
Tribe: Macrophyini
Genus: Macrophya Dahlbom, 1835
Subgenera: Macrophya, Pseudomacrophya

Background

The Tenthredinidae are the most species-rich family and are found throughout the world, in all continents but Antarctica. They are known as the “common sawflies.” They can generally be recognized by a cylindrical body and long, segmented 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
. Otherwise, they come in a variety of colors, sizes, and forms (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.).

Sawflies in the Tenthredininae subfamily are relatively large as compared to others in the family, often with distinct colorful markings. Some are wasp-like with black and yellow stripes (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.). Many species’ life histories are not known. Some Tenthredininae species feed uniquely, as adults, on flower pollen and other insects (Smith 1993Smith 1993:
Smith DR. 1993. Systematics, life history, and distribution of sawflies. Pp. 3-32. In: Wagner MR and Raffa KF, eds. Sawfly Life History Adaptations to Woody Plants. University of Minnesota Academic Press. 581 pp.). They can be distinguished from other subfamilies by wing venationvenation:
the network of veins on a wing
(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.).

Macrophya is a medium-large black sawfly often with white, yellow, or red markings. The genus is relatively species-rich and common in North America (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167.).

Diversity

There are 231 described extantextant:
in existence; opposite of extinct
species worldwide. Forty-eight species occur in North America (Taeger et al. 2010Taeger et al. 2010:
Taeger A, Blank SM, and Liston AD. 2010. World Catalog of Symphyta (Hymenoptera). Zootaxa 2580: 1-1064.).

Diagnostic characteristics

Subfamily characters

• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  vein M and 1m-cu parallel (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  vein R bent at basebase:
  the beginning or most proximal area of any structure
  of veinvein:
  a tube-like, often darkened, structure on the wings
  Sc (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.)
• metepimeron metepimeron:
  the dorsal portion of the metapleuron
  separated from metepisternummetepisternum:
  the ventral portion of the metapleuron
  by distinct furrowfurrow:
  a groove or linear depression
  (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.)

Genus characters

• labrum labrum:
  a sclerotized structure on the front of the head between the clypeus and mandibles
  longer than medial length of the clypeusclypeus:
  sclerotized area on the front of the head located between the antennal insertions and labrum
  (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.)
• compound eye relatively large; face between eyes not visible in laterallateral:
  of or towards the side of the body
  view (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.)
• first flagellomereflagellomere:
  A segment of the flagellum of the antenna
  1.5X length of second flagellomereflagellomere:
  A segment of the flagellum of the antenna
  (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  vein 2A+3A complete, connected to 1A by crossveincrossvein:
  short section of wing vein that connects two larger veins
  (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  anal crossveinanal crossvein:
  a crossvein that goes through the center of the basal anal cell
  short and close to perpendicular (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  vein 2r present (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  vein M intersecting Sc+R basalbasal:
  towards the base; closest to the body
  to the intersection of Sc+R and Rs+M (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.)
• angle of fore wingfore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  veins 1m-cu and Cu1 120°–150° (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.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  anal crossveinanal crossvein:
  a crossvein that goes through the center of the basal anal cell
  located in central portion of the anal cellanal cell:
  cell A of either the fore wing or hind wing
  ; or anal veins appearing fused for a short distance (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.)
• metepimeron metepimeron:
  the dorsal portion of the metapleuron
  distinctly angled on lower posterior corner (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.)
• hind tibial spurspur:
  spine, usually on a leg segment
  longer than maximum width of hind tibiatibia:
  the fourth segment of the leg, between the femur and 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.)

May be confused with

Macrophya can be confused with similar species in the subfamily Tenthredininae. It can be distinguished from most other genera by the expanded metepimeronmetepimeron:
the dorsal portion of the metapleuron
, long labrumlabrum:
a sclerotized structure on the front of the head between the clypeus and mandibles
, and the centered anal crossveinanal crossvein:
a crossvein that goes through the center of the basal anal cell
(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.).

Exotic pest species of concern

none

Host associations

Macrophya in North America feed on Rudbeckia (coneflower), Carya (hickory), Prunus (cherry, plum), Fraxinus (ash), Ligustrum (privet), Syringa (lilac), Castanea (chestnut), Viburnum, Sambucus (elderberry), Mentha (mint), Geum (avens), Plantago (plantain), Filipendula, Scrophularia (figwort), Solanum (nightshade), Senecio (ragwort), Rubus (blackberry), Geranium, Valerinana (valerian), Potentilla (cinquefoil), Aster, Carex (sedges), and some genera of grasses (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167., Smith and Middlekauff 1987Smith and Middlekauff 1987:
Smith DR and Middlekauff WW. 1987. Suborder Symphyta. In: Stehr FW ed. Immature Insects. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Vol. 1: 754 pp., 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.). Macrophya nigra feeds on Dasistoma macrophylla (mullein foxglove) (Eiseman et al. 2017Eiseman et al. 2017:
Eiseman CS, Smith DR, and Leoschke MJ. 2017. Host, larva, and life history notes for Macrophya nigra (Norton) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 119(1): 142-145.).

Life history

Macrophya larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
are external leaf-feeders. At maturity the prepupae fall to the ground and make a cellcell:
1. a membranous area of the wing between veins, 2. a small cavity or closed space
in the soil to overwinter (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167.). Adults fly in the spring (Smith 1991Smith 1991:
Smith DR. 1991. Flight records for twenty-eight species of Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 93 (3): 772-775.).

Macrophya punctumalbum, commonly known as the privet sawfly, was introduced to both eastern and western Canada and is now established in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and New York. The adult oviposits under the epidermis on the upper side of the leaf and the larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
feed on the leaf tissue in irregular, round holes. In large quantities, the larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
can entirely 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
the host plant (Hoebeke and Johnson 1985Hoebeke and Johnson 1985:
Hoebeke ER and Johnson WT. 1985. A European privet sawfly, Macrophya punctumalbum (L.): North American distribution host plants, seasonal history and descriptions of the immature stages (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 87 (1): 25-33.). The larvalarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
of M. punctumalbum is separated from other species in the genus by its uniform bright green color (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167.). This species actually feeds on the foliage of its host plant as an adult (Hoebeke and Johnson 1985Hoebeke and Johnson 1985:
Hoebeke ER and Johnson WT. 1985. A European privet sawfly, Macrophya punctumalbum (L.): North American distribution host plants, seasonal history and descriptions of the immature stages (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 87 (1): 25-33.).

Distribution

World: The genus is present throughout North America, Europe, and Asia (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167., 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: Macrophya occurs throughout Canada and United States, as far north as the Alaskan panhandle and extending south into Florida and Texas (Gibson 1980bGibson 1980b:
Gibson GAP. 1980b. A revision of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Tenthredinidae) of North America. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 114: 1-167.).

Map data from: GBIF.org (29 October 2019) GBIF Occurrence Download Macrophya

Details about data used for maps can be found here.