Oct 14, 2019
#1501 - Philomastix sp. - Two-tailed Sawfly
Photo by Jason Dix, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Probably Philomastix xanthophilus, the Red Ash or Bramble Sawfly, but all the larvae in the genus have two tails.
Philomastix sawflies are short and stout, and lay their eggs on the underside of the hostplant’s leaves. But they do it by cutting a hole in the top of the leaf, and gluing the egg in place afterwards. They then spend the rest of their life standing guard over the eggs and younger larvae, rattling their otherwise useless wings to scare off predators and parasitoids.