Perginae larva hub
Workbook
This page serves as a hub, providing background and links to a series of pages dealing with the identification of larvae in the subfamily Perginae.
In his ground breaking revision of adult sawflies in the genus Perga, Benson noted that “the larvae of very few species have been described at all, despite the very great interest that surrounds their colonial habits” (Benson, 1939).
Our knowledge of pergine larvae has progressed little in the intervening 86 years. There are very few published descriptions of the 57 species in the 8 genera of this subfamily.
Descriptions of insect larvae in general pose considerable challenges. As larvae typically have a simple body form, there are relatively few morphological characters available for taxonomic diagnoses. In addition, a larva often undergoes substantial changes in colour as it progresses through its various instars.
On this hub page, I describe the morphology of a generalised pergine larva - drawing on the few published descriptions.
