The wheat stem sawfly – a nursery tale from the shortgrass prairie

2005 (1) The wheat stem sawfly Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae; Fig. 1), is a major pest of spring wheat in the southern Canadian prairies and the northern plains of the United States (Weiss and Morrill 1992; Fig. 2). In the Canadian population, which is adapted to spring wheat, oviposition occurs in late June and early July when the female (Fig. 3) inserts an egg into the elongating internode of a wheat stem. Stems from which the head has yet not emerged (the boot stage) are preferred (Holmes and Peterson 1960). The larva (Fig. 4) feeds within the stem until the plant is nearly mature. It then girdles the stem at ground level, plugs the pith cavity and overwinters in the lower part of the stem (the stub). In the spring the overwintered larvae pupate The wheat stem sawfly – a nursery tale from the shortgrass prairie