Sawflies AIDGAP
PDF Ebook
Sawflies AIDGAP
is an identification guide to the adults of the 109 genera of sawflies in Britain.
- Illustrated with line drawings throughout
- Also includes sections on life history, morphology, ecology and collecting
- Identification generally requires specimen preparation
Sawflies have a reputation as one of the more difficult groups for the naturalist. They are certainly under-recorded. But using this key you should be able to reach at least family level using a x10 hand lens, and in some instances go considerably further.
Sawflies are the most primitive members of the insect order Hymenoptera, which includes the bees, ants and wasps. The sawflies form a complete sub-order, the Symphyta. Although all sawflies have two pairs of wings their venation is often of the supposedly ancestral form and may be variable even within an individual specimen. Unlike many of their relatives in the other hymenopteran sub-order, the Apocrita, sawflies cannot sting.
This guide is part of Field Studies Council’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants). Our AIDGAP guides are accessible identification keys, suitable for non-specialists from age 16+. As with all guides in the series, the Sawflies AIDGAP underwent extensive testing before publication, by beginners and specialists alike. The author has revised this, the first published version, in the light of the testers’ experience.
