Urocerus gigas
Appearance
Urocerus gigas | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Female ovipositing | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | U. gigas
|
Binomial name | |
Urocerus gigas | |
Synonyms | |
Urocerus gigas (giant woodwasp, banded horntail, greater horntail) is a species of sawfly, native to the Palearctic realm and North Africa. Adults are usually between 10 and 40mm (0.5 to 1.5 inches) in length.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Urocerus_gigas-larvae.jpg/310px-Urocerus_gigas-larvae.jpg)
- U. gigas gigas
- U. gigas taiganus
U. gigas is a wood boring insect which attacks softwoods of freshly felled logs/unhealthy trees. The species lives in discrete tunnels, frequently filled with hard packed coarse fibrous frass, hard to dig out from tunnels. The tunnels are large, round and discrete between 6-7mm.
Urocerus flavicornis was once considered a subspecies of gigas, but is now a separate species [1].
References
- ^ "Giant Woodwasp- Urocerus gigas". Massnrc.org. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
Media related to Urocerus gigas at Wikimedia Commons