#pergid

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Perga dorsalis, the Steel-blue Sawfly

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#132 - Steel-blue Sawfly

Perga dorsalis, called the Steel-blue because of the colour of its spitfire larvae

Just one of hundreds of shots I took while spending four days in a New South Wales backyard, in Uranquinty outside Wagga Wagga. I was over there for a family health emergency, which fortunately resolved much better than we'd all feared.

I'd been photographing a bundle of leaf-beetle eggs, and only THEN noticed the huge wasp two leaves away. The thick waist proved she was a sawfly, so I felt no fear at handling her. Indeed, she was remarkably placid, and probably nearing the end of her two-week adult life, sawing open eucalypts with her ovipositor and laying eggs. She might even have been a virgin - Perga dorsalis can lay fertile eggs even if they haven't mated.

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#102 - Spitfires

Who's dat peekin'?

It's a Spitfire! In fact, it's a whole squadron of Spitfires. A Spitfire, I hear you say?

Not quite, grasshopper. Well, how about this Spitfire?

Closer, but still no cigar. True, at least she's an animal this time, but she's not quite as vituperative as her namesake.

The Pergid Sawfly grubs known in Australia as Spitfires certainly make up for their small size in vituperation, however. Having them spit a mixture of cyclic ethers and monoterpenoids (sequestered from the Eucalyptus leaves they eat) can be a memorable experience.

Some sawflies are of concern to agriculture in Australia (and Brazil and Uruguay) because the grubs are poisonous to livestock if eaten, quite apart from their leaf-eating habits, although their appetite does make them potential weed-control animals in some parts of the world. Some species will gather in their thousands, or if more dispersed tap away to each other on the leaves by way of communication (as they were doing in this shot), but even the two (or quite possibly three) species I've seen so far this summer are doing their best to defoliate the host tree, despite their relatively few numbers.

They start off quite small.

Some species are guarded by their mother while they're still small and vulnerable - see this photo by Zosterops - because their chemical defenses are insufficient to protect them from everything. The Chews have photos of young spitfires being thoughtfully contemplated by a parasitoid fly, for example, as well as many shots of other species, and the adults.