Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana)

Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana (Panzer, 1798))

Scientific name: Arge pagana (Panzer, 1798)
Common name: Large Rose Sawfly
French name: Tenthrède du rosier
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Argidae
Wingspan : 7 to 10 mm.
Biotope: Larvae grow on Roses and Dog-roses.
Geographic area: Palaearctic region.
Observation period : May to September in two generations, rarely three.

Arge pagana is a completely black insect except the abdomen which is orange yellow.
The antennae have three articles and the third one is much longer than the two other ones.
There is no well marked narrowing between the thorax and the abdomen and the wings are held over the body when in rest.
Females bear a saw-like ovipositor used to make small cuts in the host plant stems to deposit their eggs.
The caterpillar-like larvae, with three pairs of legs and at least six pairs of false legs, grow in group eating all the foliage.
They can reach 25mm long. They are a pale green colour with black spots and a yellow head. The larvae of Arge ochropus are almost similar, you can tell them apart with the presence of small black dots just behind the spiracles.
When fully grown, the larvae fall down on the ground where they quickly pupate.
Adults feed on pollen and on nectar.

Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana) - Yvelines, France - June 1st 2012

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