Overview
Pergids (Pergid sawflies) exhibit a diversity of biologies and are
phytophagous
on a wide range of food plants. The commonly encountered genera whose larvae are often conspicuous on
Eucalyptus
and
Angophora
trees include
Phylacteophaga
(leaf-blister sawflies) and
Perga
.
Perga
larvae are gregarious and store the oil from the leaves in modified pouches of the gut. They can regurgitate the oil when attacked by predators, giving them the common name of 'spitfire grubs'. The female of one rare species,
Clarissa tasbates
, is brachypterous (reduced wings) with a 'flea-like' body and is restricted to a small area in western Tasmania where its larvae are thought to feed on the dead leaves of tussock grass and other grassland herbs.
Description
They are morphologically diverse, ranging from small (3 mm) to large (30 mm), and are characterised by having 5 24 segmented antennae, a short neck, and fore wing without vein 2r and usually without an anal cell. The larvae are also morphologically variable and include highly modified leaf-mining species through to robust caterpillar-like exposed feeders.
Many Pergidae are reminiscent of larval Lepidoptera or Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera).
Distribution
Pergids have a Gondwanan distribution, the majority of species occurring in Australia and South America. They are the dominant sawfly family in Australia, with 146 described species, but they also occur in New Guinea, New Britain and Sulawesi. Only one introduced species (
Phylacteophaga froggatti
) occurs in New Zealand and New Caledonia.
Further information about the Pergidae can be found in Goulet 1993, Naumann 1997, Naumann 1991 and Schmidt & Smith 2006.