Rhogogaster lateraria (Cresson, 1880)

Baine, Quinlyn & Looney, Chris, 2019, Plant associations for three sawfly species (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) in the Pacific Northwest, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 74, pp. 27-33 : 27

Rhogogaster lateraria (Cresson, 1880)

Notes.

During a Bioblitz on property adjacent to the North Cascades National Park, what were thought to be insect mines were observed on four individual Castilleja sp. near the Stehekin Landing Strip. No damage was observed other than the putative mines on any of the plants nearby. Leaves from two plants were collected and taken to the lab in Olympia, WA, in hopes of rearing the associated insects. Upon examination in the lab we determined that the supposed mines were actually small groups of insect eggs ( Fig. 3 ), from which multiple sawfly larvae hatched on 23 and 24 May, 2016. The first instar sawfly larvae did not commence feeding upon their natal leaves, instead began crawling about the container. The larvae were provided with fresh C. levisecta Greenm. leaves from surplus greenhouse material provided by the Center for Natural Lands Management, in Olympia, WA. None of the larvae fed upon these leaves, and all died within a few days after emerging. DNA was extracted from two larvae, and the COI “barcode” region was sequenced and compared with data in the Barcode of Life Data System and on Genbank. DNA from one of the larvae was successfully amplified and sequenced, and was a 99.85% match with three sequences of R. lateraria from adult specimens identified by D.R. Smith, all collected from Washington State. The sequence derived from the larvae was submitted to GenBank (accession number MN545964).

Specimen data.

United States; 9 1st instar larvae; Washington, Chelan County, Stehekin State Airport, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area; 48°20.86'N, 120°43.38'W; 20 May 2016, em. 23-23 May 2016; C. Looney leg.; ex: Castilleja sp.

Figures

Figure 3. Rhogogaster lateraria eggs in Castilleja sp. leaf.