Habitat
Adults: terrestrial
Immatures: terrestrial

Feeding Habits
Adults: phytophagous
Immatures: phytophagous

North American
Species: 19

Hymenoptera Siricidae
Horntails, wood wasps

Special Characteristics: Horntails are large, brightly coloured sawflies. Both sexes have a long abdomen with a horny spearlike plate on the last segment. Females have a long ovipositor.

Comments: Larvae are wood boring; most species attack conifers, but some are found in hardwood trees. These insects use their drill-like ovipositor to insert their eggs and spores of a symbiotic fungus into dead or dying trees. North American species only attack trees that have been weakened or recently cut down. The boring activities of the larvae reduces the quality of the lumber from these trees.

Species:
Tremex columba (Linnaeus)

Common Name:

Feeding Habits: Larvae attack maple, elm, beech and other hardwoods.

Distribution:
Eastern Canada

Comments:
The larvae of this species are not usually numerous enough to inflict a lot of damage. They attack dead or dying trees, which also reduces the amount of damage done.